Kira's Other Half
by Alkirian
Summary: Kira was going to fall because Light alone didn't have the foresight or patience needed to succeed. He was missing half of what Kira needed to outsmart L and his successors, and that half of what Kira was missing is what Mirai Tsukino, Light's classmate, is embodying. Now that they've joined forces, there's nothing that can stop them.
1. Rebirth

_I'm in a dark world. It's so bleak and lifeless. I feel like any hope or happiness is draining out of me._

 _Two odd creatures appear to be playing some type of game with bones. "What," one of them says to the other, "A pair of sleeping skulls?"_

 _The other laughs, "Hehe, I win again! No hard feelings right?" He turns to a third creature, sitting some distance away. "Hey there, Ryuk, would it kill you to join us? You should come play with us for a change."_

 _The third one, Ryuk, rejects the invitation, saying, "No, I'll pass."_

 _I wait a moment, before I hear Ryuk's voice again. However, it sounds echoed, like a thought. 'This is all so ridiculous._

' _This world is… rotten._ '

At that last sentence, my eyes snap open, only to be met with sunlight streaming in my window. I sit up, combing my fingers through my black hair, before yawning, and finally throwing the covers off and getting up. I meander my way to my dresser, quickly grabbing my school uniform and brushing away the tangles in my hair. Once dressed, I go to the kitchen, grab something to eat, and sit down at the table.

The last words from my dream run through my head a million times as I eat, and my seriousness catches the notice of my mother.

"Is something wrong, Mirai-chan? You're not usually this tense unless something's bothering you." She asks, walking over from the stove and sitting across from me. "What is it?" Before I can respond, she leans towards me and smirks. "Is it a boy?"

I snap out of my stupor, my face probably turns beet red, and I start stuttering. "Wha-what? N-no! W-why would you th-think that?"

At this perfect time, my father walks in. He'd heard the little exchange from the hallway. "Mirai-chan, you're not allowed to date boys until you're twenty. That's three more years, young lady." He smirks at me.

If it were at all possible, my face got redder. So I stood up, grabbed my books and walked towards the door, still stuttering. "N-no, it wasn't a boy. It was just a dream. I have to get to school, goodbye!"

I closed the door to their laughter.

I go through the daily motions of school, consisting of sitting down near the window, taking out a notebook, and pretending to write notes, while in actuality, I sketch. I wait for each class to be over, hoping for it to just be over with.

In the last period, while sketching Ryuk, the creature from my dream, the teacher somehow snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Yagami-san, are you still with us?" He asks, and I'm surprised that that one sentence, out of all he had said, had gained my attention. My surname isn't Yagami; it isn't even close. It's Tsukino. "Can you please translate the following sentence into English?"

A boy a couple desks back sighs, and stands up. I recognize him as Light Yagami, the genius of my year. I'd only ever talked to him a handful of times, but from what I'd seen, he was pretty nice. He reads, in perfect English, "Follow the teachings of God and receive his blessings and so it shall be that the seas will again become bountiful and the raging storms will subside."

On my way home, I listen to the news.

" _Today, at approximately eleven AM, a thirty-two year old man was found stabbed to death in his apartment in the city of Yokohama Karigara Prefecture. Karigara police are treating this case as a homicide."_ The newscaster said over the radio. I sigh, thinking of the families affiliated with the murder victim.

A different newscaster comes on, _"In other news, today suspected murderer Naoki Tokuji was arrested in the district of Shibuya Tokyo. He is being held in custody facing murder charges for the brutal slaying of his common-law partner, who was only 25 at the time of death."_

I sigh again, waiting for the light to turn before crossing the street. _'Day in, day out, it's all the same. The same stories on constant repeat. This is ridiculous.'_ I think to myself.

Upon reaching the other side of the street, I hear an echo. _"This world is… rotten."_

I snap my head up, as the words once again echo through my head. They sounded almost the same, as if spoken by the same voice I'd heard in my dream. Ryuk, I believe. However, it sounded as though there was another voice layered in, like they were saying the same thing at the same time. Not to mention, the second voice sounded familiar. Looking around, I didn't see anyone or anything resembling the creature I had seen in my dreams, nor anyone that I'd recognized. I shrugged it off, but the sense of foreboding it gave me lingered.

The next day follows an overly similar path to the day before, this time, without the dreams or echoes.

Sitting in the last period class again, I'm staring out the window, when a black notebook appears to have fallen out of the sky. It's too far away for me to make out the words, but it appears to have some sort of lettering on it. I watch it fall to the ground, and scan the windows of the wall closest to it. However, like I'd assumed, all the windows were closed. It was impossible for it to have been thrown out of one, anyway, the trajectory just wasn't right. Had it been thrown, it would have arced, rather than fall straight down into the middle of the courtyard. I stare at it a moment longer, before resolving to retrieve it after class.

Once we've been dismissed, I gather my books and place them in my bag, before hurrying outside to get the notebook. After I reach the courtyard, I look over, only to see Light standing where the notebook had fallen, holding it. With the sneakiness of a ninja, I walk over to his left side, and look around him at the black leather-bound pages. The lettering reads **Death Note**. ' _Death Note?'_ I think, confused. _'Like a notebook of death?'_

I hear Light beside me say, "Huh," before he opens it. I read the rules, printed in clear English. _'The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die. Interesting. Just when I was starting to get bored.'_ I smirk, before grabbing a corner of the notebook and saying out loud, "I wonder whose idea of a joke this is?"

Light jumps ever so slightly, obviously not having heard my approach. He composes himself, before saying, "Oh, Tsukino-san. I hadn't heard you approach."

I wave it off, saying, "Don't worry about it, Yagami-san. Not many do." I look back to the notebook in his hands. "So, what do you think? Could this be some elaborate prank?"

He smiles, before putting the notebook down. "Probably. I mean, how could a notebook be capable of killing someone? Though, this does seem rather elaborate for it to just be a prank. ' _The person whose name is written shall die'_? Really? It seems pretty lame, not to mention twisted." He starts to walk away, before pausing, walking back, and grabbing it again. "Though, on the off chance that it's real, we shouldn't leave it out in the open for just anyone to find." And he slips it into his bag.

"I wonder…" I think out loud, wrapping one arm around my midsection, and the other grabbing my upper lip between my thumb and index fingers. "Could it be real? And if it is," I turn my gaze up to meet his eyes, "Would anyone be willing to try it out?"

He looks away, as if scanning the surroundings. "If we did…" He trails off, before looking at me again, "it would have to be a criminal. Killing an innocent, even with just a pen and paper, would be wrong." I nod, agreeing.

"Do you want to?" I ask, looking up at him with an apathetic expression.

He meets my stare with one of his own. "It might not be wise, but it would be a good idea to go over this more carefully."

I smile, closing my eyes, and look away. "Tell me how it goes. I have to get home. Goodbye, Yagami-san."

As I walk away, he waves after me. "Goodbye Tsukino-san."

Once I get home, I collapse on my bed. I think to myself, _'I just had a conversation with Light Yagami. He smiled at me. I smiled at him. Dear god, do I have a social death wish?'_ It's no secret that dozens of girls like him. I was one of the few who don't. If I got together with him, or even hung out with him, other girls would get jealous. School would get nasty. I shook off the thought, and turned my mind to the Death Note. _'There's no way that it's real. It's physically impossible. But, if it was real, would I use it?'_ I sigh, and start doing my homework, before turning on the TV to the news.

" _The same assailant who attacked 6 people at a busy shopping district in Sinjuku yesterday has struck again. Taking 8 people hostage at this daycare centre. His captives include both children and teachers. The police have now identified the suspect as 42-year-old Kuro Otoharada, currently unemployed. We expect negotiations to begin immediately."_ The newscaster reports. I turn my attention over to the screen. _"At the present time, that's all the police are telling us."_

" _You can't help but feel concerned for the safety of those hostages."_ A second newscaster, female, comments.

" _You're absolutely right. We'll continue to monitor the situation from here."_

" _Thank you for that report. What do you make of this Mr. Hashimoto?"_ I watch the exchange with blind disinterest.

Another man, I assume to be Mr. Hashimoto, says, _"Well, one can only hope for a quick resolution to this situation."_

" _Wait, we're seeing something here. Looks like there's movement at the front entrance."_ The second newscaster says. I sit up, my full attention on the screen.

" _The hostages are coming out and they all look to be unharmed. The Special Forces are taking action, they're moving in! We don't know if the suspect's been arrested. Huh? Yes? Ok, we now have confirmation. The suspect has been found dead inside. I repeat, the suspect is now dead._ _The Special Forces are denying allegations that they shot the suspect."_ My eyes widen. I hadn't expected this.

" _So, it's quite possible he was feeling cornered and decided to commit suicide?"_ The female newscaster asks.

" _Well, according to statements from hostages, the suspect just suddenly collapsed."_ I lean back, contemplating. "Could it…?" I muse out loud. "No, it's impossible. There's no way… But, could Yagami-san have been watching this and written down his name…? That's possible, but it wouldn't explain his death. Unless… The Death Note's real."

The next day, after classes, I walk up to Light, who is clearly in deep thought. Tapping him on the shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts, I say, "Good afternoon, Yagami-san."

He quickly looks to me, almost shocked at my sudden proximity. He recovers almost immediately, saying, "Good afternoon, Tsukino-san. How are you today?"

I smile at the small talk, before replying with, "I am well. Yagami-san, have you looked over the notebook?"

He smiles, closes his eyes, and looks away, "Right to the point, I see. Yes, I have. It says that if you write the name of the person while thinking of their face, they will die of a heart attack unless otherwise specified."

I smile widely. "So, did you happen to write a name in it?"

He stares at me a while, most likely wondering whether or not to tell me. I let him think for a minute, before he says, "Yes. I did."

I smile wider. "Would you happen to have written down the name of Kuro Otoharada?"

The look of surprise in his eyes is evident, before returning to his poker face. "Yes. I did."

I look down, still smiling, before I say, "I want in."

He looks at me, confused. "In? What do you mean by 'in'?"

"I want to use the Death Note to kill criminals, and make this world a better place. I've been thinking about how rotten this world is. If we purge this world of criminals, no one would ever have to live in fear ever again." I look back up at him, looking for any sign of rejection.

He smiles, almost evilly at me. "Well then, Tsukino-san, you think along the same lines I do. It would be a pleasure to work with you to purge the world of criminals."

"In that case," I say, quickly thinking ahead, "it may be best if you pretend to tutor me. That way, we have a reason to talk to each other."

He smiles again at me, saying "Good idea. Well then, Tsukino-san, would you like me to tutor you?"

I giggle, giddy at the prospect of killing. Something is wrong with my head. "I would appreciate it very much, Yagami-san."

"Please, Light will work fine."

"Very well then, Light-kun, you may call me Mirai. I look forward to working with you."

"And I with you, Mirai-chan. Would you like to come over tonight so we can get started?"

"Sure, that sounds great. Say, around seven?"

"That sounds good. I'll see you at seven then. Goodbye Mirai-chan."

"Goodbye Light-kun." As he walks away, I smile. Satisfied with what I've been able to work out. With both Light and I killing off the criminals of the world, everyone will be safer, and happier.

When I got home, I smiled broadly, laughing, and looking to the sky.

"Well, Miyoko, it seems you'll be getting closure, after all. Sister…" I trail off. "You'll be able to rest in peace soon enough. I assure you of that."

The next three days followed a pattern. I got up, went to school, went home, did my homework, had dinner, went to the Yagami's place with schoolbooks in tow, wrote down names of criminals, discussed anything and everything with Light, went home, and went to bed. It was wonderful, finally being able to avenge the souls of the innocent.

The first name I wrote down was the name of my sister's killer, Akihiko Sayo.

I was six, my sister, Miyoko, was eight. He robbed our house in the middle of the night, and held me at gunpoint. My sister tried to save me, but in doing so, got shot fatally. He escaped, and there wasn't enough evidence in court in order to convict him. As he was walking out, he looked right into my eyes and smirked at me, as if saying, "Yes. I killed your sister, and there's nothing you can do about it."

It was satisfying, being able to avenge her. Like I had finally gotten closure.

Besides, there's no way that they'd be able to trace it back to me. He had murdered other people, and got sent to jail for it, but he was never convicted of my sister's murder. It had fit with the pattern that Light and I had developed, of killing the more dangerous criminals first, before moving down to the less serious offenders.

The night after I had gotten home from my fourth "tutoring session" with Light, I had another dream.

 _I was in that bleak and colourless world again. I was looking around, trying to see my surroundings, when I heard a familiar voice._

" _It's been five days. Now then, I'd better get going." I heard Ryuk saying._

 _The other two creatures from before are here, too. One of them asks, "Eh? You headed somewhere Ryuk?"_

 _The other, "Hate to tell you, but our whole world looks like this."_

 _Ryuk looks back at them, "That's true, but I've dropped my Death Note."_

 _They both laugh at him, and I start to think,_ 'He dropped his Death Note? Could the one that Light-kun and I are using, actually be his?'

 _The creature with the taller hair remarks to Ryuk, "You really messed things up, didn't you?"_

 _The one with a skull comments, "Hold on a sec? Didn't you already trick the Old Man to get a second book? Don't tell me you dropped both of them."_

 _Spiky hair prods, "You must have some idea where you dropped the thing."_

 _Ryuk nods, before saying, "Yeah, the human world."_

 _The other two exclaim in surprise. "What?!" before Ryuk walks away, into a pit with a staircase. I follow behind. The bottom of the pit is a swirling gray mass, with what appears to be spirits floating out of it. Ryuk sprouts wings, before jumping into the pit headfirst._

I groan upon waking up, and I go through my morning motions, but the dream won't leave me. It was almost as if it were a warning, that something is coming.

But I couldn't let a dream disturb me. After all, I have people to save, and people to kill. So, I went about with my day as if the dream had never happened.

When I got to Light's house, a storm had picked up, and I was nearly soaked. I knocked on the door, and Light's little sister, Sayu, opened it. "Oh, hey Mirai-senpai! Light's up in his room."

I smile at her warmly. "Thanks Sayu-san!" Before I make my way upstairs to Light's room.

I knock twice, pause, then twice again, then once. Waiting exactly three seconds, I open the door and walk in, without being given permission to enter. It was the knock we'd come up with, in order to let each other know who it was and what was going on. If they responded with "come in", it meant that they were being watched and to be careful of what you say. If they were silent, everything was alright and could be said freely.

Upon entering Light's (ironically) dark room, I set my bag down next to the door and walk over to his bed, and without breaking stride, I said, "Oh, hello Ryuk. I had thought you'd be here." Seating myself on the edge of Light's bed, I asked, "So, what can you tell us about the Death Note?"

Both Light and Ryuk look over at me in shock. I raised an eyebrow. "What? I dreamed that I was in a bleak world, strange creatures, probably Shinigami, were talking and I heard them call a Shinigami that looks exactly like you Ryuk. I know you dropped your Death Note into this world. I saw it all. Now," I lean forward, "What can you tell us about it?"

Ryuk laughs a little, before responding. "You're pretty clever. Like I told your friend, I'm not gonna take your souls. The notebook is yours. Once it touched the ground, it became part of the human world. If you don't want it, give it away, but you'll lose all of your memories of it. You can't go to heaven or hell once you've written a name in it. Once your time is up, I'll write your name in my Death Note. Oh, and only people who've used the Death Note can see and hear me. That's about it."

Light speaks up, "I just have one more question I want to ask you. Why were we chosen for this?" Ryuk doesn't pay attention, and just eats the two apples left on Light's desk. "Hey, are you even listening?"

Ryuk gulps down the apples, and says, "Apples in the human world are worth the trip. What's the best way to describe these? Juicy?" He smirks. Or, at least, it sounds like he's smirking. Ryuk has a permanent grin on his face.

Light gets frustrated. "Just answer my question!"

Ryuk backs up at the outburst, and before responding. "I didn't choose you. Don't you see? This is all just an accident. You actually thought you were chosen because you're so smart or something? Don't be so vain. It just happened to fall around here and you just happened to pick it up. That's all there is to it. That's why I wrote the instructions in English, the most popular language in the human world."

Light groans before asking, "Then why did you drop it in the first place? You even wrote down specific instructions, so don't try telling me this was an accident."

Ryuk leans forward a bit, "You're asking me why? I did it 'cause I was bored."

Light backs up. "You were… bored?"

Ryuk sighs, and says, "The truth is, Shinigami haven't got much to do these days. Most of the time we're either taking naps or gambling. If you take the time to write names in your Death Note, the others just laugh at you for working so hard. Even if you wrote the name of another Shinigami, it'd be pointless because they wouldn't die. And since we live in the Shinigami Realm it brings us no amusement to kill those in the human world either. So, I figured I'd have more fun if I came down here myself. Anyway, I'm surprised at how many names you've written." He says, looking at the extensive list of names we had written down, before looking back at Light. "But I wanna know why you only wrote the cause of death for that guy who was hit by the truck."

Light smiles, it almost looks cute, if you weren't listening to what was being said. "If you don't write down the cause of death, the victim dies of a heart attack. And that's probably the best thing about the Death Note, Ryuk."

Ryuk backs up, confused. "Huh?"

"You see," Light continues. "We've already exhausted the list of the world's major criminals. And eventually, we're going to get rid of them all."

Ryuk groans, "What's the point of doing that?"

Never breaking his stare with the Shinigami, Light replies. "It's only a matter of time before people figure out that these criminals are being eliminated by someone. I want the world to know of my existence. That there's someone out there passing righteous judgement on the wicked." He says, gradually getting more expressive, almost angry, as he goes on.

Ryuk shifts positions, acting nonchalant, but I see the brief look in his eye. He's amused. "Why even bother? What are you trying to achieve by passing judgement on them? I mean, why do you care?"

Light looks out the window, "Because, I've been bored too." He looks over at Ryuk. "I wasn't ready to believe it at first, but it's obvious now. There's something about the Death Note itself that makes humans want to try it out at least once. Besides, if we don't do it, who will? There's no one else who could." He says, glancing at me. I nod, with a growing smile on my face. He looks back to Ryuk. "At first, we wrote the names of the worst criminals we could think of. Like we were cleaning up the world, one name at a time. So that eventually no one will ever do anything evil again. And while the truly guilty ones who deserve to be punished for their crimes die of heart attacks, the people who are less guilty but who still make trouble for others will slowly be erased through disease and accidental death. Then, and only then, the world will start moving in the right direction. It'll be a new world, free of injustice, and populated by people who we've judged to be honest, kind, and hardworking."

"But if you did that, it would make you two the only bad people left." Ryuk retorts.

Light smiles sweetly, acting innocent. "Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm a hard working honors student considered to be one of Japan's best and brightest." They both turn to me.

"And what about you?" Ryuk asks.

"Me?" I ask, smiling like a little darling. "I'm just an honors student who requires some help in a subject or two. There's nothing wrong with being imperfect."

Light and I look at each other, and say in unison, "And we… we will become the gods of this new world!"

Ryuk leans back and laughs. "It's just as I thought. Humans are so interesting."

Both Light and I look out the window at the now-clear sky, and watch as the sun sets.

I realize the time. "Well Ryuk, it was a pleasure to meet you. Light-kun, I'll see you tomorrow at school. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mirai-chan." Light calls out after me.

"Mirai, huh? And she saw the Shinigami Realm… Very interesting." Ryuk comments.

Just as I leave the Yagami's house, something dawns on me.

Both Light's and my irises had turned red when we talked about the Death Note.

"Intriguing." I say to myself and smile, before walking home.

 **Woot! Nine pages! If any of you know me at all, you know that unless I am motivated, I will write maybe three pages every few months. However, as I am not writing from my imagination entirely, things will be a lot longer than I'm used to writing. Then again, the last story I wrote finished when I was thirteen, and I am not proud of it. Seriously, it was terrible. But, because it was so popular, I left it up. So, if I push myself, I may be able to write a chapter a week. How's Friday sound to be a good update day? Yeah? I'll try. No promises. You are allowed to bug me if I'm late. See you all next week!**


	2. Confrontation

It's nearly the end of last period, and I'm busy shading in my picture of Ryuk devouring an unrealistically giant apple. Still, for how odd he looks, this picture makes him seem almost… cute? No, that's not quite the word, maybe a bit silly.

I'm only vaguely paying attention to the teacher as he reads out of his book, "He found himself overwhelmed with happiness and satisfaction, knowing that, at long last, his dream had finally come true." I only tune in slightly more at his next sentence. "Alright then. Yagami? Please recite this line for us."

Light stands up, saying, "Sure." Grabbing his book, he reads, "Having finally made his dream a reality, he was overwhelmed. Both by the magnitude of his achievement, and by the joy and happiness that it brought him." He sits down again.

"That was very well done. But I'm not surprised, of course. Absolutely flawless." The teacher compliments. "Well then, we'll leave it at that for today."

The other students groan and stand up, talking to one another. I gather up my books and drawings before making my way to the door. I hear Ryuk behind me, saying, "I thought it'd never end. How do you do this every day? It's so boring here." Evidently, he followed Light to school. I ignore him when I leave, as does Light. "Hey, where're you going?"

Once outside, Ryuk tries to talk to Light again. "Hey, Light, are you listening to me?"

I roll my eyes, as Light explains, "Don't talk to me in public. Unlike you, people can still hear me when I talk out loud. The same goes for Mirai-chan."

Ryuk looks away, as if snubbed. "Hmph." Truth be told, he kind of is. "Well, aren't you boring."

Almost outside, a couple of guys walk up to Light. "Hey, what's up, Light?" One of them asks him. "We were just going to head down to the-"

"Sorry, I'm a little busy today." Light cuts him off, not even letting him finish his offer.

"Well, that was rude." I mumble under my breath while walking by them, accidentally catching their attention.

The one who was talking before blushes. "Oh, hey, Tsukino-san!" He says, rubbing the back of his head.

I smile politely, and nod at him. "Good afternoon." Before walking right on by.

Ryuk hangs back a bit, probably to talk to me. "So, you're popular with the boys?"

I smirk, looking down, and whisper quietly, "Not exactly. I don't have too many friends, and I don't exactly converse with people who have a lower IQ than me. It gives me an air of mystery, and I suppose some people like that." I turn off the street, heading home.

Once within the safety of my room, I lock the door, change into some street clothes, and flop down on my bed, quickly finishing my homework. I then pull out my laptop, searching up "Kira". Dozens of websites have popped up, telling the "Legend of Kira the Savior", Kira being derived from the English word killer. Obviously, that's what the public's decided to name Light and I, though it seems like they've assumed Kira to be one person.

I'm about to keep website hopping, when Light texts me. Pulling out my phone, I read, "Meet me in the ivy covered building by the river in 30 min".

Raising an eyebrow, I grab my evening jacket and shoes, and head out.

Upon reaching said building, I sneak inside silently, following the sounds of two male voices; Light's and Ryuk's. I silently creep into the room that they're in, before intentionally kicking a rock in order to alert them to my presence. They both turn to me, and Light nods, acknowledging me, a gesture which I return.

"What are we doing here anyway?" Ryuk complains. "I don't understand why we're sneaking around this dump. Tell me."

Light returns to organizing the bottles he'd brought with him. "Isn't it obvious? Anyone who touches the Death Note will be able to see you. I can't afford to carry something this dangerous with me anymore." He takes one of the bottles, and unscrews the cap. "Up until now, I thought that if my family ever saw the notebook, I can tell them I was keeping records of various criminals in preparation for becoming a detective one day. But I'm walking a very fine line right now. I don't want to think about it, but if we make one mistake, I might end up having to kill my own family." At this, he pours the bottle's contents into the tray, which immediately ignites.

The three of us just stare into the fire for a few minutes, before I pipe up. "Is there a reason to my being here? All I've done is stand off to the side silently."

Light looks up at me. "I just felt it appropriate that you be here." He gathers the things he had brought, and stands up. "Don't forget, we have a 'tutoring session' in about forty-five minutes."

I smirk as he walks past me, "How could I forget? I'll see you then, Light-kun."

He nods. "See you then."

I hurry back to my house, grabbing my book bag and a couple apples, before leaving again.

Back at the Yagami's house, Sayu opens the door. "Oh, Mirai-senpai. You're still here for Light? I honestly don't know what you see in him." She teases, turning away.

"Two words, Sayu-chan." I play along. "He's. Hot." I say, holding up a finger for each word. She shivers in disgust, and I laugh at her reaction. "You know I'm kidding. Light-kun and I are just friends."

She walks back to the living room, and looking over her shoulder at me, she says, "Yeah. For now." She smirks, while I roll my eyes. "You know where Light-kun is, hiding up in his room."

I nod, before heading upstairs to Light's room, doing the knock, and entering without a response.

Both Light and Ryuk look over to me, before returning to whatever they'd been doing before I'd entered. "So, does that mean you were able to hide the notebook?" Ryuk asks Light.

Light leaned back in his seat. "Yeah. I hid it right here in this drawer."

"But it doesn't seem to be particularly well hidden." Ryuk complains. "You left the key in the lock."

"And that's the whole point. I intentionally left the key in the most noticeable place I could think of." Light leans forward to open the drawer, revealing a brown book labelled, 'Diary'. I walk over to get a better look.

"Isn't that just a regular diary?" Ryuk asks, clearly confused.

"That's what it is." Light looks up from the opened drawer to look at Ryuk. "I'm guessing that once most people find the diary inside my desk, that'll probably satisfy their curiosity. But," He reaches over the desk to grab a pen from a can full of them, "the real key is this. Just an everyday item you'd expect to find lying around on my desk." He starts to unscrew the top, taking out the ink cartridge. "A regular ball-point pen, and all I need is this part."

"So that's the key?" Ryuk asks, incredulously.

"Yeah." Light takes the diary out of the drawer. "If you look closely, you'll find there's a small hole underneath the drawer. Then you just insert this…" He says, pushing the ink cartridge through some hole, making the-apparently false-bottom of the drawer lift.

"Ah, a fake bottom. The diary will distract most people so I doubt anyone will find it." Ryuk concludes.

"But that's not all." Light adds. "Even if someone figures out there's a fake base," Light holds up the Death Note. "I've set things up so that there's no way they could get their hands on the notebook." He lifts up the fake base to show us. "You see, once the ink reservoir is inserted, it accesses an insulator, preventing the flow of electricity around this circuit. When the fake base of the drawer is put back, this piece of rubber also prevents the flow of electricity. However, if someone were to try and force the bottom of the drawer open, the circuit would connect, and now would ignite the gasoline contained in this thin plastic casing, instantly setting the notebook on fire. The way I've got it set up, all the evidence will be completely destroyed." He points out the different parts as he explains them. "If I'm ever questioned, I'd say that I was hiding the real diary, because I didn't want anyone to see it. It sounds like a pretty believable excuse. I mean, it is my diary after all." He explains, leaning his head on his hand.

Ryuk looks at Light, clearly impressed. "I've heard of humans finding Death Notes in the past and typically the biggest problem they had was finding a good place to hide it. But you, Light, you're probably the first to have given it this much thought." The Shinigami looks back at the drawer. "Though, it's a pretty risky setup from the look of it. If you make even the slightest mistake, you could be badly burned."

Light looks back to Ryuk, "Risky? You say the strangest thing sometimes, Ryuk. This whole thing has been a risk since the very beginning, from the moment I obtained the Death Note. I'm sorry, but compared to that, this doesn't even qualify as a risk to me." He smiles. "In fact, it actually protects me." He leans back in his chair, both arms behind his head. "It all comes down to a choice: would I prefer to be executed, or deal with a little house fire?"

I smile, and finally speak. "Very clever setup, Light-kun. Risky? Yes, but it will serve our purposes well." I go to sit on the edge of him bed, tossing Ryuk an apple when I pass him. Upon sitting down, I ask, "So, who're we judging tonight?"

Light smirks, and turns back to the notebook. "Shall we get started?"

Over an hour of writing names later, I bring up a topic I'd been brooding on for a few days. "The police are bound to realize that someone's killing off these criminals, sooner more likely, as opposed to later."

Light looks over at me, one eyebrow raised. "Well, yeah, we've known about that for a while. Why bring it up now?"

I wrap my left arm around my midsection, my right hand squeezing my upper lip between my thumb and forefinger: my thinking pose. "When they find out, it's not likely that they'll side with us, as they're used to their way of life. Therefore, they're going to try and come after us. With the way the Death Note works, the death is untraceable. So the only way that the police would be able to find us would be if we make a mistake."

Light faces me fully, almost offended. "Are you saying we've made a mistake?"

I shake my head, letting my arms fall to my sides. "I'm saying that we can't afford to make a mistake. If we have one misstep, they could be at our throats. It's always a possibility that they'll try to provoke us into acting hastily, and therefore making a crucial mistake. I'd really rather not die this early in the game."

"Fair enough." He looks down, then back to the notebook. A few minutes later, he says, "Don't worry about it. With both of us working together, there's no way we'll get caught."

I nod in agreement, before looking at the clock. "Ah, it's time for me to go. My parents will be expecting me home in a few minutes." I get my bags, and toss the second apple to Ryuk. "I'll see you on Monday then, Light-kun."

He waves at me as I leave. And I ponder as to whether or not we're really going to avoid getting caught.

The next day is Sunday, which means no school for me. I end up spending all of my morning and some of my afternoon watching TV and website hopping through Kira sites. The media hasn't picked up on how these judgements aren't just a series of mysterious deaths, but the people have. Though people in public won't say it in order to keep up appearances, on the internet, where everyone is anonymous, good people with nothing to fear are rallying behind Kira, supporting us in our judgement. Whereas people who have committed crimes are hiding away, hoping to avoid our wrath. They know that someone's picking off the bad guys, one by one, so now they're hiding from an unknown enemy. It's going exactly as we planned.

My TV suddenly changes, cutting into whatever I had been watching. I hadn't really been paying attention.

The announcer looks flustered, and there's some commotion in the background. "We'd like to apologize for the interruption. As of now we're bringing you a live worldwide broadcast from Interpol, ICPO."

I sit up straight in my chair, surprised. "Worldwide broadcast? What for?"

The announcer continues, "We now take you live to the ICPO."

The screen switches to show a man in a suit, with a nameplate of 'Lind L. Tailor'. I am suddenly both nervous and curious.

He says, "I head up an International Police Task Force, which includes all member nations. I am Lind L. Tailor, otherwise known as L."

I stand, shocked. "L? As in, _the_ L? The greatest detective on the planet? What's he doing showing his face, on international television no less?" Luckily, I'm home alone. My parents would be wondering how I knew this, or why I cared.

"Worldwide, huh?" I mutter, going into my thinking pose. "If it's worldwide, why are you speaking Japanese? It'd make more sense to speak English, as it's evident that this isn't a voiceover."

He continues. "Criminals around the world are being murdered by a serial killer. I consider this crime to be the most atrocious act of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will hunt you down. I will find you."

I tense. I was prepared for some measly police force, not _the_ detective L. "So, this is about Kira, then? Well, at least you didn't assume it was just one person. Kudos to you, L. But still…" I trail off. "If he's the one after us, we're in trouble. He's never struggled to solve a mystery. But even during the BB LA murder case, he never showed his face to the public. At present moment, this situation isn't even desperate enough to warrant revealing your identity. What are you…planning…" My eyes widen in realization. Grabbing my book bag out of habit, I run to the Yagami residence.

Knowing that Light's the only one there, I open the unlocked door without being invited in. I quickly rush up the stairs to the second floor, where Light's room is. I don't even bother knocking; I burst in, just in time to see Lind L. Tailor collapse. While I stare in horror, Light starts laughing maniacally. I walk over to him, and slap him across the face. He freezes, and looks down at me. I am seething.

"You idiot!" I yell. "This is exactly what I warned you about last night! Didn't you think it odd that he was speaking Japanese, and the voice and lips were synced? He would've been speaking English if this was being broadcast worldwide! Not to mention, it's too early in the game for the great detective L to reveal his identity to the public, he never has before, why would he now? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Light looks at me shocked, before a look of realization crosses his face, quickly followed by shame and anger. But a new voice over the TV catches both of our attentions.

"Ah. I had to test this, just in case, but I-I never thought it would actually happen." A modified voice says, with just a picture of a decorated 'L' on screen. "Kira...it seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it. Listen to me, Kira. If you did, indeed, kill Lind L. Tailor, the man who you just saw die on television, I should tell you that he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today. That was not me."

"Evidently…" Light grumbles. I rub the bridge of my nose, fighting a headache.

"The police arrested him in absolute secrecy, so you wouldn't have heard of him on TV or through the internet." The distorted voice continues. "It appears not even you have access to information about these types of criminals."

Ryuk laughs. "He got you there." I glare at him, before returning my attention to the screen.

"But I assure you, L is real." L taunts. I clench my fists, trying not to break something. "I do exist. Now...try to kill me!"

"Bastard… Sending someone out to die in your place… You coward…" I murmur.

"What's wrong? Go ahead! Come on, right now! Kill me!" He continues to taunt. I look over to Light, and he looks like he could kill someone.

"Light-kun, calm down. We won't be able to fight him if you're blinded by rage." I say, in a deadly calm voice. He looks over to me.

"Can't you do it?" L asks, innocently. "Well Kira, it seems you can't kill me after all."

"Don't listen to him. He's just trying to get you to lash out. Don't give him what he wants." I continue to try to calm him.

"So there are some people you can't kill. You've given me a useful hint." L continues. I roll my eyes. "A dealer to a saver. I'll tell you something that I think you'll find interesting. Although this was announced as a worldwide broadcast, the truth is, we are only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan." I take a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. _Very clever, L, but I figured as such._ "I had planned to broadcast this message around the world until we found you, but it looks like that won't be necessary. I now know where you are."

"Idiot. You can't possibly figure out our location just by one broadcast." I say, more to myself than anything. "Besides, the Kanto region is the most densely populated area in Japan, not to mention that it makes up a majority of the population. That doesn't tell you too much now, does it?"

Ryuk laughs behind me. "But still, he is pretty clever to get you like that."

I nod. "Agreed, but we'll be able to take him. We just need to know who he is."

"The police treated your first killing as an unrelated incident, but in actuality, the first of your victims was a suspect in Sinjuku." L goes on. "Of all the criminals that recently died of heart attacks, this one's crime was, by far, the least serious. Furthermore, his crime was only ever reported inside Japan. I used that information to deduce this much. You are in Japan and your first victim was little more than an experiment, which means you haven't been killing for very long."

"Huh. He's better than I thought." Light comments.

"We decided to broadcast in Kanto first because of its large population, and, luckily, we found you. To be completely honest with you, I never expected it would go this well. But it won't be too long now before I'll be able to sentence you to death." L gloats. "Naturally, I am very interested to know how you're able to commit these murders without being present...but I don't mind waiting a little bit longer. You can answer all of my questions when I catch you...Let's meet again soon, Kira." And the broadcast ends.

Light sits down. "Really? He's gonna sentence us to death? Sounds interesting. I accept your challenge, L."

I smirk, sitting down on Light's bed. "He dares sentence Kira to death? Ha! Good luck with that, fool. You have two people to hunt down, if you miss one, Kira doesn't die. We only have to find you. It's obvious that we have the advantage. Yet still, L, I too will partake in this game of death." I sigh. "The first to discover the other side's identity or identities will win." I smile like a maniac. "Humanity's whims are so very… interesting… when one watches with an outside perspective."

 **And here is chapter 2! Definitely shorter than the last one, yes, but I'm hoping I'll be able to get the next few chapters to be longer than four thousand words again. Ciao!**


	3. Dealings and Pursuit

Light and I are sitting in his room, having written down multiple names. I let Light take over, and go to sit on his bed. Now bored, I take out my books and study for the College entrance exams. No such thing as too early, right?

Not even twenty minutes later, someone knocks on the door. "Hey, oniisan?" _It's only Sayu. No need to worry._ "I know you're busy tutoring Mirai-senpai, but could you help me with my homework again, please?"

Light looks over to me, as if asking for my permission. I nod, and he goes to open the door and let his little sister in. "Are you still having problems with quadratic equations?"

Sayu nods, "Uh-huh!" as she walks over to Light's desk. Light walks over and sits down in the chair next to his sister, and I quickly tune them out as I go back to studying my science notes.

Around a half hour later, I close my notebook for my classes and stretch, finally tuning back into the world around me.

"I knew I could count on you, Light!" Sayu exclaims happily, most likely from finally understanding the equations.

"So, do you think you're ready to try a few on your own now?" Light asks her.

"Huh? Yeah. I guess so…" She trails off, as if wanting to avoid answering the questions altogether. We hear the doorbell from downstairs, "Oh, sounds like Dad's home." Sayu says happily, standing up from Light's desk. "He's home really early today!" She runs out of Light's room.

"Hey," Light says, turning around, "why don't you at least try the last problem by yourself?"

Sayu pauses near his door momentarily. "I will, but maybe after dinner." She closes the door behind her.

Light scoffs, "Yeah, right." before getting up himself.

"Helping your sister with her homework, you sure are relaxed." Ryuk comments to Light.

"Of course." Light replies, deadly calm. "If the police try to come after me, I'm pretty confident I've got something that'll give me the advantage."

There's another knock on the door, catching both Light's and my attention. The door opens without a response, and Sayu pops her head in again, this time looking at me. "Hey, Mirai-senpai, my mom wants me to tell you that you're welcome to stay for dinner tonight."

Quickly recovering from my momentary shock, I smile, "Sure, Sayu-chan, I'd love to!"

She grins back at me, before leaving and closing the door behind her. I smirk up at Light. "It seems your family has taken a liking to me."

He sighs, and rubs his temples. "They keep thinking you're my girlfriend, no matter how many times I say otherwise."

"You know, Sayu-chan said as much a couple days ago. We might as well let them think what they want, if nothing we say can convince them otherwise."

"In that case," He said, grabbing my wrist and hauling me to my feet, "we'd better get downstairs before they think anything is going on." I just nod, and follow him downstairs.

We make our way to the dining room, pausing only when we pass a man untying his shoes in the doorway.

"Hey," Light says as we pass him, "glad you can join us for dinner. You hungry, Dad?"

"Yeah. It's been a long day." The man, Mr. Yagami, says as he straightens. Then he sees me. "And who is this?" He asks, a pleasantly surprised tone in his voice.

Light steps back, and introduces us. He gestures to me, "Dad, this is Mirai-chan. I've been tutoring her for the last few weeks." He gestures to his father, "Mirai-chan, this is my father, Soichiro Yagami."

I bow respectfully. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Yagami-san."

He bows to me, "Likewise." We both straighten.

"She's staying for dinner." Light explains. Mr. Yagami nods, and the three of us make our way to the dining room.

Midway through the meal, Mr. Yagami speaks up. "So, Light, tell me, how are your studies going?"

Light shrugs it off. "Hm? Everything's okay, I guess." And continues to eat.

Sayu looks up with a smirk. "Whatever, he's at the top of his class! My big brother is a genius." She gloats, and I smile.

Mrs. Yagami beams. "That's my son. We're all proud of you, Light."

Light suddenly looks over to his father. "Is everything okay, dad? You look tired."

I glance over to Mr. Yagami, and I can't help but silently agree. Although I haven't known him for long, I can tell that he's exhausted.

"Yeah. I'm not able to say too much about it, but this case I'm working on now is really tough." He says with a sigh.

After the meal, I thank Mrs. Yagami, and follow Light (And, subsequently, Ryuk) up to his room.

Once there, Ryuk speaks up. "Well, well. Daddy's a policeman. And that must be the reason why you're so confident?" He leers.

"That's right." Light confirms, now on his computer, typing something in. "It's easy for me to hack into dad's computer. We're on a home network, so I can copy the files I need without leaving a trace. This way, I can keep track of their investigation." A box asking for a password shows up. "Here we go." He thinks a moment before typing the password and hitting enter, giving him access to a plethora of files. "Well, isn't that interesting?" He says, leaning back in his chair. "Looks like the police are already beginning to suspect a student."

Ryuk laughs. "I guess that means you two are in trouble."

Light assumes my thinking pose. It seems I've worn off on him. "If the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next six minutes and forty seconds." He recites out loud. "That sound right to you, Ryuk?"

Ryuk shrugs. "So what's your point?"

I smirk, immediately catching on. "If you write down the cause of death as a heart attack, you should be able to control all the details leading up to that point, including the time of death." I sit back, crossing my arms behind my head. "Light, you're a genius."

His smile turns sinister. "Looks like I will be able to provide you with more entertainment now, Ryuk."

For the next two days, we don't bother writing any more names. We just go about our normal business, go to school, go through the classes, go home, study together, and go to bed. It almost feels normal, if I ignore the knowledge in the back of my mind that every hour, on the hour, another criminal has been judged for their crimes.

On the third day, after school, I walk home with Light and Ryuk, having decided to just go straight to Light's house to study for the entrance exams, rather than taking the detour home.

Light speaks up with a smirk evident in his voice. "I'd say L is probably starting to sweat a little by now. What'll really make his job difficult is that we've deliberately left about fifty criminals alive for times like this."

"Oh?" Ryuk questions.

"If L is as good as they say, by now he should be starting to suspect someone with connections to the police." Light states, a smirk still on his face.

"There's one thing I don't get. Showing them you have connections to the police makes it easier for them to find you than when they just suspected you a student." Ryuk argues.

"That's the entire point, Ryuk." I explain. "So that L suspects the Task Force."

"But what's the point in that?" Ryuk asks.

"You still don't understand human beings." Light shakes his head in disbelief. "In this world, there are very few people who actually trust each other. And it's no different for the police, you know. What's especially important is that L and the investigators don't trust each other at all. Think about it. Could you trust someone whose name and face you don't even know? When L discovers that I'm somehow getting confidential information, he'll be obligated to start investigating the police to find the source of the leak. When that happens, it'll only be a matter of time before the police start resenting L." He smirks again, never breaking his stride. "On the surface, it will appear that L and the investigation team are working together to try to catch us. But in reality, L will investigate the police, and they will be investigating L. We're not the ones who are going to find L. We can let the police do that for us. And when they do, that's when we'll eliminate him."

I sigh, keeping up with him. "I'd rather not kill a non-criminal, but if they decide that our judgement shouldn't be carried out, and they try to stop us, they are the ones that must be stopped."

"True." Light says. "We shouldn't kill people who haven't committed a crime. However," He stops, and I nearly bump into him, before he turns to face me, "from now on, anyone going against Kira is a crime, punishable by death."

I nod. "Agreed." And we continue on our way.

Four days later, I have another dream.

 _I'm in that dreary world again. Only this time, I'm in some sort of cave. There are five different Shinigami ahead of me, all sitting or lounging. Four of them look rather standard, with the skulls for heads, black feathers, the exoskeletons and the like, but the fifth is so different from the others. He's plated in gold, with jewels embedded into the gold bones. He's wearing many rings, necklaces, and bracelets, and he sits on a throne of skulls._

 _I hear them talking, and I move closer in order to hear clearly._

" _Has anyone seen Ryuk around lately?" The one with blonde hair asks, with a strange accent that I can't quite place._

" _Maybe he was serious about losing his Death Note." The one with the red feather boa and goggles responds._

" _It was probably picked up by some human before he could get to it." A third comments with a gravelly voice._

" _No way." A fourth groans. "Then he'd be stuck there till the end of that human's life or until the death note was destroyed. That could take a while…"_

" _Yeah." The golden one speaks. "I can't picture Ryuk doing something so boring."_

 _I speak up, without expecting to. "I have heard that Ryuk finds humans entertaining. It is amusing to watch them scramble for power. I bet he dropped his Death Note on purpose just to see the human world thrown into chaos."_

 _They all turn towards me, as if not having heard my approach. "Ah, Kiyohime." The golden one says, recognizing me for someone else. "I hadn't heard you come in. I guess that's to be expected, though."_

" _But do you know what?" The one in the boa adds. "I actually heard he was carrying two death notes."_

" _Seriously?" The first asks. "Why would he need two?"_

" _Beats me." The golden one says. "I'll never understand that guy."_

 _I just shake my head in response, briefly seeing scarlet ribbons fall in front of my view._

I shoot up from my position, not from fright as much as surprise. Upon calming myself slowly, recognizing the fact that I was lying down at my desk, having fallen asleep whilst studying, I clean up my books and put them back into my book bag.

' _That dream was odd,'_ I think to myself. _'All of my dreams of that other world had been as if none of them could see me, but in that one, they thought I was someone else… Kiyohime? Who was that?'_ I shrug it off, before turning to read the clock, which proudly read, "2:50? Really? Ugh…" I groan, dragging a hand down my face. I get up, get changed into my nightgown, and flop down on my bed, with a single thought crossing my mind before I fall asleep. _'Kiyohime…Why is that name so familiar? I wonder…could I have met her before?'_

The next day, I hang out at Light's house, when he tells me all about his experiments.

"Look at this, Mirai-chan." I walk over to his desk and look at his monitor over his shoulder. "I think we're in luck, the results of yesterday's little 'test' have already been downloaded onto my dad's computer." He smirks, self-satisfied. "And these results are just what I expected. The Death Note will work for what I have in mind."

Ryuk cocks his head in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

Light turns to face Ryuk sitting on his bed. "One of them escaped and ran into the bathroom I had specified in the Death Note. Another one drew the same symbol I had drawn in the Death Note before he died. And finally, a third wrote the same letter I had written in the Death Note, word for word." He turns back to the Death Note resting open on his desk. "All three did exactly what I intended them to do." He looks down and smirks. "For the other three inmates, I purposely wrote conditions that were virtually impossible."

I quirk an eyebrow. "Really? How so?"

He crosses his arms, smirk still in place. "With the first one, I wrote that he would die in front of the Eiffel tower in one hour. However, everyone knows that it is physically impossible to go from a prison in Japan to Paris, France in only one hour. Since this couldn't happen, he simply died of a heart attack in prison."

"I see… Very clever, Light-kun." I say, going into my thinking pose.

He continues. "The next was supposed to draw an exact picture of L's face on the prison wall. This also didn't happen. You can't draw someone you've never seen, right?"

Ryuk nods his head in appreciation. "Makes sense."

Light's smirk finally fades. "With the last one, I tried something slightly different. I specified that he would write a note that read, 'I know that L is suspicious of the Japanese police.'" He looks at the Death Note thoughtfully. "To be honest, I actually expected this one to work, but it didn't end up happening. Which means that it's impossible to make someone write what they don't already know, or at the very least, it has to be the kind of thing they could come up with on their own." He leans back in his chair. "Basically, even the Death Note can't do the impossible. But as long as it's within the realistic limits of what a person might do, I can control them as much as I want before they die."

"That's very clever." Ryuk compliments.

"True, very true, but what brought this on? Was there a new development in the case that would push you to experiment?" I ask, not understanding.

Light looks to me. "Right, I suppose you're not aware. Someone's been following me for about the past week, and I don't know their name or face."

"Ah. You're trying to come up with an elaborate way to get his name so nobody will suspect you, so you're testing the Death Note's limits." Light simply nods at my conclusion, and I drop the subject.

"But what's all this leading to? What's the point?" Ryuk asks.

Light's smirk makes its return. "These latest victims will no doubt keep L and the police guessing. Even as we speak, he's probably trying to decipher all the clues I left for him. Especially that little note. That absolutely meaningless dying message."

I look over his shoulder at the picture of the message displayed on screen. "Seems almost generic. Unless…" I point to the top row of Kanji symbols. "If you read the top row, it says, 'L, did you know'. Are you hoping to throw him off?"

He smiles at me, and nods. "You catch on quickly, Mirai-chan."

I flip my hair over my shoulder in mock offense. "You didn't agree to pair up with me just because of my ravishingly good looks, you know. I was born with a better-than-average brain."

He laughs at my antics, before turning back to the Death Note, regaining a serious demeanor. "Alright, time for the real thing."

"Real thing?" Ryuk inquires, before I get the chance to.

Light clicks on a different tab on his browser, displaying a picture of a disheveled man. "Yesterday on the news, they said this drug addict tried to rob a bank, but was unsuccessful." Light then begins writing down the man's name, along with extensive details about the man's soon-to-be death. "He attacked a few people, then ran away empty-handed. We'll use him." Light then flips open his phone, dialing in a number. "It's kind of last minute, but I'm sure I can find someone. I've got a few people in mind."

"A few people? For what?" Ryuk asks, still not catching on.

"You'll see." Light finishes dialing, and while waiting for the person on the other end to pick up, continues talking. "Believe it or not, I'm actually a rather popular guy, Ryuk."

I snort, saying to Ryuk, "You can say that again. I'm almost scared to be seen in public with him," I motion to Light, "because I'm worried his fangirls will come after me. No, scratch that, his entire _fanclub_ will be out for my blood." Ryuk cackles at that, before Light shushes both of us.

Light puts on a happy façade, as the person on the other end of the line has finally picked up. "Hey, Yuri-chan… Good morning… Did I wake you? ... Heh, sorry about that… Hey, I was wondering, do you want to go out to Spaceland? Today? With me?" He was playing his part well. If I were Yuri, I'd fall for it, hook, line, and sinker. Thank god I'm not.

" _Oh my gosh, sure!_ " I hear her excited response from my spot halfway across the room, and I do my best to supress my giggles at her gullibility.

"Great!" Light says, equally as cheery. "So, can I meet you at the bus stop in an hour and a half? … Uh huh… Alright, I'll see you then." He hangs up, then turns back to me. "So, Mirai-chan, ready to take a little field trip?"

"To Spaceland? Why not? It'd be fun to see the Death Note in action." I take out my phone and text my grandparents. "It'll give me an excuse to take my grandparents out, they've been wanting to do something with me for a while, now." I grab my purse, and toss Ryuk the apple I'd brought. "I'll see you then." I say behind me as I leave.

An hour and a half later, I'm sitting on a bus headed for Spaceland with only my grandmother, as my grandfather was too sick to come along today. Oh well. We come to a bus stop, and two familiar faces walk on: Light and Yuri, with Ryuk trailing behind them. Next, another man enters, presumably Light's stalker. Light and I just barely nod to each other, practically imperceptible unless you were really looking for it, as he walks by.

I listen in on Yuri and Light's conversation. "I don't get it, Light." Yuri states. "Didn't you say you weren't going out until entrance exams were over?"

"That was before I scored number one on the National Practice exams." Light replies, relaxed and easy.

"Oh, you're such a nerd!" She flirts, and giggles.

The rest of their conversation is small talk and flirting, all of it heading Light's way.

It's only when we get to the next bus stop that I tense.

The man that Light had shown me earlier this morning walked onto the bus, his hands in his pockets. He walks over to the driver, pulls out and cocks a gun, and holds it to the driver's head, making him gasp, before saying, "Stay in your seats unless you wanna die!"

Everyone on the bus gasps, including my grandmother, which makes me put my arm around her in a protective manner.

He continues his rant. "All of you, shut up! If anybody moves, I'm putting a bullet in their head!" He turns to the driver. "Alright driver, you listen to me. I know you got the number for Spaceland's office on ya. Call 'em!"

"O-okay." The driver says, reaching down to grasp the phone, and dialing the number. "This-this is Sasaki, calling from bus 174."

"Tell 'em what's goin' on, and no tricks, either!" The hijacker demands.

"M-my bus had been hijacked!" The driver exclaims. "A-and he's holding a gun to my head!"

"Give me that!" The hijacker grabs the phone out of the driver's hands. "You heard what he said; now you listen up!" He turns his gun from the driver, to the passengers. "Have a female staff member bring all of Spaceland's cash from yesterday. I know it's there!" He starts waving the gun around. "Have her meet us two bus stops from the park and don't make me wait. If you mess with me at all, or try to get the police involved, I swear I'll kill every one of these passengers!" He rips the phone from its cord, before throwing it to the ground and smashing it underneath his foot.

I glance over to Yuri and Light, only to see Yuri shaking in her seat, and Light showing her a note, no doubt telling her not to be scared, and that he'll do some act of bravado in order to save everyone on the bus. I then see Light's stalker lean forward, and whisper something to them, so quiet and far away that even I can't make it out. Light then writes something else down on paper, before crumpling it and tucking it into his jacket. He turns slightly, having a whispered conversation with the man sitting behind them. The stalker passes Light what looks like ID, having Light glance over it before passing it back. They continue to whisper, before my attention is pulled back by the man with a gun.

"Shut up, you old hag!" He yells at my grandmother, who was still whimpering, and I pull her closer to me, as if I can protect her from him, all the while glaring at him with every bit of hate inside of me, but he doesn't seem fazed. "You want me to shoot you right now?" She cowers into me. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, grandma! I said, shut up!" I position myself to kick the gun out of his hands, when I hear rustling behind me. Glancing back, I see Light leaning over to grab what looks like a piece of paper. "Don't move, you little punk!" The hijacker yells, his gun now pointed at Light.

Light looks at him as he walks over. "What the hell is that?" The man yells, pointing the gun at Light all the while. "Oh, a smartass." He reaches down and grabs the paper. "You guys were plannin' somethin' back here, weren't ya?" He straightens the paper, scoffing at what it says. "Plans for a date, huh?" He throws the paper back at Light. "Stupid kid." He walks back to the front of the bus, but I see Light smirk, and I tense, waiting for Light's plan to fall into place.

As the bus pulls out from underneath a bridge, the hijacker tenses, turning around slowly. When he faces the back of the bus, his eyes widen. He stumbles back, cocking the gun, and pointing it straight at Ryuk, who'd been hiding out in the back of the bus the entire time. "W-who the hell are you? You in the very back, what do you think you're doing?" He asks, fear lacing his tone. "Don't mess with me! How long have you been hiding back there?"

"What's this? You're talking to me? So you mean you can actually see me right now?" Ryuk asks, as he stalks towards the hijacker.

"Stay there, you!" He says, placing his fingers on the trigger. "You keep away from me, you freak!"

If I'd had less control of my emotions, I'd be grinning right now. _'So this was your plan, Light-kun. Very clever indeed.'_

"Everyone, get down!" Light's stalker shouts, causing everyone in the bus to crouch or cower in their seats. I do the same to blend in, cries of fear coming from everyone.

"Oh, I get it." Ryuk smirks. "That little note that Light accidentally dropped was actually torn from the pages of the Death Note itself." The hijacker was shaking madly, now. "Since he tricked this guy into touching the paper, he's the only one on the bus, other than Mirai and Light, who can see me. That's so smart."

Ryuk stalked closer to him, causing him to stumble back a few more steps. "Get away!" He screamed, firing the gun at Ryuk twice.

"I'm sorry pal, but I'm a Shinigami, so I'm afraid your bullets aren't gonna kill me." Ryuk says, enjoying messing with this criminal's head.

"GAHHHH!" The hijacker screams in pure terror, shooting his gun six more times, all of them passing through Ryuk. During the shots, a feel a breeze of air pass by me, likely one of the bullets ricocheting around the bus.

Still screaming in terror, the hijacker tries to shoot again and again, but his chambers were emptied. "Anyone who touches the death note can see me." Ryuk monologues. "I have to stay till the death note is finished or I see you die, whichever comes first. And a Shinigami can't die from being shot. I've said all these things at one time or another. Well, he is the top grade student in the country. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. He even used this hijacking as a way to get the guy following him to willingly give up his name!" As Ryuk said the last sentence, Light's stalker runs down the bus aisle, phasing through Ryuk when he passes him.

The hijacker runs to the driver, grabbing him, and shouting, "Stop the bus, let me off!" Making the driver slam on the brakes. Once the bus lurches to a stop, the hijacker jumps out the door, landing on his hands and knees in the middle of the road. ' _Light-kun, you sly devil._ '

Not even three seconds after he lands, a car races along, trying to stop but ultimately failing, hitting the hijacker, who had frozen in the middle of the road. Everyone on the bus freezes, looking at the gruesome scene.

I look over to Light and smirk at him, a gesture which he returns.

' _It seems like Light-kun was able to get his stalker's name. Very clever, using the Death Note like that. In order to think ahead that far, plotting out every step before the first has even been taken, he's far smarter than I had originally thought. Very… Intriguing."_

 **So, apparently, I'm going with the whole thing of ending off every chapter with an "Interesting…" or "Intriguing…" I have no idea how that happened. Oh well.**

 **To be updated next Friday, if my finals don't kill me first! Adios, amigos!**


	4. Tactics

I stand with my grandmother at the front of the bus, still looking at the bloody scene in front of us. Her, with a frozen look of horror, and me, with an indifferent stare, and a near imperceptible smile. I glance down at her still shivering form, before wrapping an arm around her as she begins to silently sob. I rest my chin or her head, and watch Light, who has just gotten off the bus, and I overhear his stalker call out to him.

"You there." He says, as Light turns to face him. "Listen carefully. I came to Japan as part of a secret investigation so the local police can't find out, um, that I…" He stutters, and trails off.

Light gives a slight nod of his head. "I understand. I promise I won't tell anyone that I met you and of course, that includes my father."

The man moves his hands nervously. "Well then, please excuse me." He says, and runs around the stopped vehicles around us, getting away.

My eyes now back on Light, I see him smirk after the man. _'So it seems that the police don't know about him. Yet, I can't help but wonder why… Who is he? What's in it for him?'_ Light notices my gaze, and gives me a small nod in confirmation. My indifferent stare turns to one of a small victory, before returning to its previous state.

I return my attention to my grandmother, and I say calmly, "Grandmother, why don't we go home? We can go do something together another day." She silently nods, probably too frightened to actually speak. "I'll go call a cab. I'll be right back." She just nods wordlessly again, and I make my way outside.

I quickly call a cab, before walking over to Light and Yuri, neither of them noticing me.

"Yuri-chan, are you sure you're still up for it after all of this?" Light asks, mock concern obvious in his voice.

She nods, a smile on her face. "Uh-huh! I wouldn't waste a chance to spend an entire day with you, Light-kun, no matter what happens!" She grabs onto his arm. _'That little…'_ I clench my hands unwillingly, before noticing, and forcing myself to relax. _'That's weird… I wonder…'_

I leave the two lovebirds, walking back to my grandmother, to wait with her for the cab.

Later that night, I go over to Light's house for "tutoring". The moment I open his door, I ask the question. "So, what was his name?"

Light pulls out the Death Note, smiling. "Raye Penber. An FBI agent from America."

"Are you going to write down his name?" Ryuk asks from his spot over Light's right shoulder.

"Not yet." Light decides immediately. "I'm going to wait one week before writing his name. If he dies right after meeting me, I'll only draw attention to myself." He leans back in his chair, as I sit on the edge of his bed. "I'll write his name in here once I've given him time to investigate more people with ties to the police, it'll be less obvious that way." A mischievous glare enters Light's eyes. "In the meantime, I think I'll use some those inmates we've been keeping alive to play around with L a little more."

"Another suicide note?" I ask, leaning towards them.

"Uh-huh. Any ideas on what to say?" Light asks, now looking at me.

"Well…" I trail off, "the last note went, 'L, do you know?', so maybe… 'gods of death'?"

"And where would you be going with that?" He raises an eyebrow at me.

I'm the one to smile widely. "As in, 'L, do you know? Gods of death love apples.'"

He bursts out laughing at that, and I join in. "I love it! So misleading, it'll make him think that we're trying to tell him some big clue, only to turn around and give him something meaningless!"

He continues to laugh, while Ryuk huffs. "Apples are not meaningless." He turns around and pouts.

I quiet my giggles, before composing myself. "Sorry, Ryuk. Of course apples aren't meaningless. Here," I reach into my bag to grab one, and toss the red fruit at the Shinigami.

He happily devours the peace offering. "You're forgiven, Mirai. Light on the other hand…" I start giggling again.

"Ha ha. Very funny, you two. Stop fooling around." Light says, sighing in exasperation.

"Aye, sir." I say, mock saluting, before actually becoming serious. "So, what are we going to do about this Agent Penber guy who's been following you?"

Light leans back in his chair, closing his eyes. "We could kill him immediately, but that would draw plenty of attention to us. We should wait at least a week."

"On the other hand," I continue for him, "if we don't kill him at all, he might look over his findings and see something that we missed or messed up on. We do have to kill him eventually, sooner better than later."

"Also," Light says, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "it's unlikely that L would only bring in one agent to investigate the entire police force working on this case. If he brought in more than one agent, and we only killed him, then that would make it obvious that it was one of the people that he'd been investigating. If we're going to kill him, we have to kill them all."

I nod. "Agreed. So, how are we going to get the names and faces of all the FBI agents that were brought in?"

We both think for a moment before Light smirks. "We won't. We don't have to-"

"-if he does it for us!" I complete, and smirk back.

We spend the next hour scheming on how to trick Raye Penber into writing all of the names of the FBI agents, and agree on exactly what we plan to do.

A week later, we meet at the subway, exchange technology, and run over our rolls.

"Mirai-chan, you'll write Yonegoro Nusumi's name in the Death Note on my signal, then leave the pages on the seat next to the door. Always have your earbud on, but keep the microphone off."

"We've gone over this plenty of times, Light-kun. I know all my signals, you know yours. This is going to go perfectly. There's no need to worry."

We split up, Light going over to wait with Ryuk near the mall area, and I get on the subway car we agreed on. I sit down opposite the door, and pull out a book, eyes skimming over the words and occasionally flipping a page, but not reading anything. I reach up a hand to brush the hair out of my eyes, and turn on my earbud receiver.

"This place is crawling with humans." I hear Ryuk complain. I mentally roll my eyes. "Are you gonna do it here?"

"Let's just say you're about to see the results of all the research and experiments we've been doing over the last few days." Light explains calmly. _'I swear, he has the patience of a saint.'_

"Experiments?" Ryuk asks. _'Apparently, he hasn't been paying attention to what we've been doing for the last week.'_

"Yeah. I've been using known criminals who live in this part of the town to test out different killing methods, and I've learned a lot about the Death Note. For example, if I write a cause of death and the circumstances leading up to it, I can add a name afterwards and it'll still happen." The receiver goes silent for a moment before I hear Light say, "He's here. Right on time. Be ready."

At that, I pull out a piece of one of the Death Note's pages, and ready my pen. I act like I'm writing down a reference, while I wait for my signal.

I hear a few footsteps, before Light says, "Mr. Raye Penber, turn around and you're dead." A small smile happens to cross my face, as the excitement the hunt creeps in. "I am Kira." Another moment of silence, but Light speaks again. "That's right. Don't turn around or put your hands in your pockets, I won't hesitate to kill you here." Another few seconds of silence. "But first, I'm going to prove to you that I am Kira." I quickly write down Yonegoro Nusumi's name on the fragment of paper, and wait. "Do you see the man working over there at the coffee shop? That's right. The one sweeping the floor. I'm gonna kill him just for you."

I hear Raye's voice. "What? But how? Don't do it." A sense of urgency in his tone.

I hear a couple gasping noises and a thud, before Light continues to monologue. "I'm afraid I had no choice but to kill him. I figured if I didn't kill at least one person, you wouldn't believe me, although that man has been repeatedly charged with sexual assault. He's managed to avoid conviction every time due to lack of evidence. He was a menace to society. He got what he deserved." A feeling of accomplishment fills me.I think to myself, ' _Another criminal down. Excellent.'_

Light continues. "I can only assume that L has already informed you of this, I can't kill someone who I haven't seen. I have to know their face. Which means, of course, I could easily kill all these people right now if I wanted to do. Go ahead and choose someone if you want."

"D-don't do it. I believe you. You're Kira." The agent stutters.

"I'm sure you care more about your loved ones than any of these people here. Imagine how you'd feel if one of them was killed just because you refused to cooperate." Light threatens. "I think you should consider them the real hostages at the moment."

"How do you know about her?" The agent asks, worry quite evident in his tone.

Light chuckles darkly. "You seem surprised. I've been investigating you. And if you don't do exactly as I say, she will die. And so will the rest of your family, including you. And that's a promise."

"I-I understand. Just tell me what you need me to do."

"I see you've got your laptop with you. I want the files containing the identities of all the FBI agents who came to Japan."

"I do have my laptop with me. It's the one I use for work, but I don't have the files you're looking for."

"All right. Then take this envelope. Take the transceiver out of the envelope, put the earpiece in, and put the envelope into your laptop case. Then, await my instructions."

There are another few moments of silence, probably Light waiting for Raye to put the earpiece in and the envelope away. "Alright. Now, get on the Yamanote Line, the outer route. I'll be close by at all times, which means I'll be watching your every move. When you get on the train, pick a spot in front of you and don't take your eyes off it. If I see you looking around, I will kill you. Once you boarded, I want you to take the seat closest to the doors. If it's occupied, wait until it's free. "

Before the subway pulls in to stop, I leave the envelope on the rack above the empty seat nearest the door, and return to my seat. A few people get onto the car I'm in, Raye Penber being one of them.

"Now I'm going to ask you something. If I have even the slightest suspicion that you are not being honest, your girlfriend is as good as dead. How many FBI agents are currently in Japan? Speak quietly into the transceiver and don't make it obvious." I watch Raye out of the corner of my eye, still pretending to read.

He adjusts his jacket, and I hear him speak out of my earbud. "I believe it's four teams, three agents per team, for a total of twelve."

"Okay, now, reach for the envelope on the rack above your head, and take the papers out of it." He does, and looks shocked at the disguised pages of the Death Note.

"Of those twelve agents you mentioned, I want you to write down the name of your superior, the one who's heading up this investigation, in the space at the very top of the page."

Raye narrows his eyes, lowering the pages, but does as Light said.

I risk a glance over at Light in the car next to ours. He's smirking. "Next, take out your laptop and turn it on. Any minute now your boss is going to send you a message with a file attachment, it contains the names and photos of all the FBI agents currently active in Japan."

He does so, and stares in shock at the screen, before Light continues. "Now, one by one you're going to look at each photo, and then write that agent's name in the space provided. You 're going to do this for each agent."

He writes down every name, looking confused and cautious all the while. _'That gullible fool.'_ I think, flipping another page. He closes his laptop, and puts it away.

"Good. Looks like you're done." I can hear the smugness in Light's voice, a smile gracing my own features. "Now, put the transceiver and ear piece in the original envelope, and the papers in the new one. Leave both of them on the rack above your head. After that, you're going to stay in your seat and ride the train for at least another thirty minutes. When you are absolutely certain that nobody would notice you leaving without the envelope, you can get off the train."

I sit there for another ten minutes, before getting off the car, and going into the one that Light is in. I stand there, next to Light, for the last twenty minutes. Once the subway train stops at exactly 4:41, Raye Penber stands up, and gets out of the car. He takes six steps, before he freezes, clutching his chest. Light makes his way to the car Raye had just vacated, and retrieves the envelopes. Raye Penber falls to the ground on his hands and knees, and upon hearing the sound of the doors closing, he twists around and collapses, trying desperately to see if Kira was there.

When he catches sight of Light, I look into his eyes from my spot on the other car, and I can practically hear him thinking, ' _Light Yagami?_ '

Light and I both smile, and just before the door closes, Light says, "Farewell, Raye Penber." I see his eyes widen in horror, just as the doors completely close.

I quickly switch cars to the one I had left twenty minutes prior, the one Light still stood in. We ride the subway to the next stop, where we both get off. I turn to Light and say, "I'll see you at seven," as I walk off.

He waves and smiles, as if nothing had happened. "See you then."

Two hours later, I knock on Light's bedroom door. Without an answer, I enter, and sit on my spot at the edge of his bed.

Without my saying anything, Light speaks. "Raye Penber wrote all of those names on pages taken from the Death Note. Ironic. Without even realizing it, he was actually signing a death warrant for all of his colleagues. As for Penber's boss, he died of a heart attack after sending all of his agents a file. And the other eleven investigators, heh, they all died of heart attacks after receiving the same file."

I grin widely. "Perfect." I cross my arms and legs, and ask, "So, what's our next step then?"

Light looks over to me, grinning. "How about we finish that message for L?"

I laugh. "Sounds great."

One detailed suicide note for a criminal later, I'm about to pack up, when Light's father calls for him. "Light, would you mind coming down for a minute?"

He glances at me, I nod, and he calls back, "Sure, I'll be right down!" He hides the Death Note, and makes his way downstairs.

I immediately pack up my books, along with a couple pieces of the Death Note paper that I tore out earlier, leave my book bag in Light's room, and hide on the stairs, listening in on the Yagami family meeting.

"Um, so what's with the family meeting, Dad?" Sayu asks, in her innocent tone.

Mr. Yagami sighs. "I figured you're going to find out sooner or later. So I might as well tell you now. I don't want you to be alarmed. I'm sure you've heard of this Kira investigation. Well, I'm currently in charge of it."

Sayu gasps excitedly. "What? Are you serious? That's totally awesome, Dad! You're the best cop ever!"

He sighs again. "That's not quite the point I'm trying to make." Sayu makes a confused noise, and Mr. Yagami continues. "You see, the truth is, the FBI sent 12 of their agents to Japan to assist us in finding Kira, and all of them died yesterday."

"Does that mean they were all killed by Kira?" Light asks.

"What?" Say exclaims in shock, fear lacing her tone.

"What I'm saying is, there's a chance that Kira will actually try to kill anyone who comes after him." Mr. Yagami explains. "His crimes are ruthless and more frightening than anything we've seen. Many detectives have already quit."

"Dad, you should quit, too. I don't want you to die. What if he gets you?" Sayu cries, a sudden 180 degree turn from her previous remarks.

"That's right. Your life is so much more important than some job." Mrs. Yagami agrees.

Mr. Yagami sighs. Again. "I can't. I could never forgive myself if I walked away from this. I will not sit back and let evil triumph."

"But Dad, you…" Sayu trail off.

"Please dear…" Mrs. Yagami pleads.

"I think it's honorable of you, Dad." Light says, standing up. "I'm proud to be able to call you my father. And if anything should ever happen to you, I'm going to find Kira." Light opens the door to the foyer, and I quickly steal back into Light's room, but I still hear his next words. "And make sure he gets executed."

Just as I've composed myself, sitting down on Light's bed, does he come in, and I'm prepared with what I have to say. "So, Light-kun, are you saying that if I hurt your father, you'll have me executed?" I stand up, walk over to him, and look him in the eye. "You know that I like your family. You know that your family likes me. So long as they don't try to kill me, I have no reason to go after any of them."

He scoffs. "So, you heard all of that?" I nod. "Don't worry about it. It's all part of the plan. I now have a reason to join the taskforce, should something happen to my father."

I look away, and go to grab my book bag. "I see. Clever. I'm surprised I hadn't thought of that possibility."

"You can't always think of every variable, Mirai-chan." He says, walking towards me.

"I know." I confess, slumping against the wall. "But, in this game of life or death, a single mistake could kill us both. I don't want a lapse in concentration when we're pulling another stunt, like we did on the subway today. It would spell our demise."

I cover my face with my hands, and Light lays a hand on my shoulder. "Hey. We're two of the most brilliant geniuses in Japan. Working together, there's no way that we can get caught." He extends his hand to help me up.

I nod, and grab his hand to pull myself up. Once standing, Light grabs me in a comforting embrace. "It's alright, Mirai-chan. We won't get caught." Quickly recovering from my initial shock at such an intimate gesture, I return the hug.

Only by a flash of light do we break apart, both of our heads snapping towards the now-open door, seeing a grinning Sayu, holding her phone, before she quickly runs away. Light runs after her, shouting, "Sayu, get back here!"

"Not a chance, lover-boy!" She calls back, her laughter echoing throughout the house.

I simply stare out the door in shock for a second more, before laughing. _'It's odd. That seems to have been a fear more up Light-kun's alley, and our roles would've been switched. He's probably every bit as worried about making a mistake as I am, but he comforted me anyway. And that embrace…'_ I brush my arms in the exact spot where Light had held me. _'Interesting…"_

 **MUAHAHAHAHAH! The romance begins! Oh man, I am SO looking forward to writing a few scenes several chapters ahead. OOH, and some omakes too! Yes! Can't wait to get to those parts!**

 **Though, I really hate the next two episodes in the anime. You know, the ones with Light questioning Naomi to get her name about five hundred times? I might even skip over them entirely. Tell me what you think! Reviews make the world go 'round!**

 **Have a good one!**


	5. Glare and Encounter

"What's going on with you two?" Ryuk asks us, finally fed up with our silence. "You haven't stopped writing criminals' names in the death note for four days straight. So what are you trying to prove? I don't see the point in writing these names weeks in advance. I've never seen the Death Note used like this."

"Consider it insurance." Light says, putting down his pen. "Suppose the son of the Detective Superintendent of the NPA was hospitalized, if criminals stopped dying at the same time, it wouldn't be difficult to connect the two."

"But what about Mirai? Couldn't she write the names?" Ryuk asks, and they both turn to look at me.

I smirk, looking up from the pages I'd taken from the notebook. "You never know when I might throw Light-kun under the bus. Suppose you were hospitalized, I could easily not write the names, and therefore frame you, saving my own skin in the process."

Ryuk laughs heartily, and Light glares at me. "Oh, real reassuring."

I smile sweetly. "You're welcome."

Light looks back at Ryuk. "Are you sure that we can use any date as long as it's before the end of a person's predetermined lifespan?"

Ryuk shrugs. "Well, I can't guarantee it, because we Shinigami don't normally work that way, but I suppose any time before the end of their lifespan should work."

Light sighs, exasperated, and leans back in his chair to glare at the Shinigami. "I really can't count on you, can I?"

"You got that right." Ryuk replies, without missing a beat.

A few minutes later, I speak up again. "Light-kun, did something happen in the last few days?" He turns to me, surprised. "You seem a lot tenser then you have been."

He sighs, holding his head in his hands. "Yeah. A couple days ago, Raye Penber's fiancée figured out that Kira was on the bus that got hijacked." My eyes widen. "She also figured out that Kira can kill people in ways other than just heart attacks."

I rub the bridge of my nose, suddenly worried. "You killed her, right?"

He crosses his arms, and leans back in his chair. "Of course. What do you take me for?"

"Did she tell anyone else?" I continue my questioning.

"No, I managed to get to her first."

I sigh in relief, then collapse onto Light's bed. "Good." I say, covering my eyes with my arm. "We don't need the police or L to know that just yet."

Light shakes his head. "Yeah, but if she had managed to figure it out, then it's likely that L will be able to, as well."

"In that case, he'll suspect you, as you were the one Penber was following." I conclude, and continue. "In which case, we'll have to destroy any evidence that might lead them to believe that you are Kira. The Death Note, in its hiding spot, however, could be left alone."

"Agreed." Light sighs, opening up the documents folders on his computer. "It's a good thing we wrote the names down when we did. For all we know, they might put cameras in here."

"I wouldn't put it past L. I hear he's relentless in solving cases." Light types in some commands on his computer to delete all the downloaded files, as I get up and walk over to him.

Once all the files are deleted, Light turns his attention over to the Death Note. "Now, we just have to hide the clippings from the Death Note. Any ideas?"

"The lining of your wallet?" I suggest, and Light nods, before pulling out his wallet and a pair of scissors.

He carefully cuts the stitching, and Ryuk pipes up. "It seems you're pretty skilled with your hands. I bet you're pretty popular with the girls, aren't you?"

Light and I scoff simultaneously. "Skill has nothing to do with it." He says. "It's your looks that count. I'm guessing you're not that popular, are you?"

I burst out laughing. "He got you there!"

Ryuk glares at me while I calm down, before I check the time. "Well, I gotta get home. My parents are expecting me to actually study, and they don't think I can do that properly with such an, and I quote," I raise my hands in air quotes, "'Such an attractive young man.' I'll see you tomorrow, Light-kun."

"See you tomorrow, Mirai-chan." Light waves as I leave.

Closing the door behind me, I take a deep breath, and open my eyes, only to see Sayu standing inches away from me, a smirk on her face. "So…" She smiles wider. "When's the wedding?"

I blush, and my stupid stuttering kicks in. "S-shut up, Sayu-chan. You know I don't think of Light-kun th-that way."

I try to walk around her, but she steps in front of me, still grinning. "Can you name your first kid after me?"

I glare, not at all intimidating when my face is as red as a tomato. "W-we are n-not together like th-that, Sayu-chan." I push her aside, and quickly walk away.

As I walk out the door, I hear her calling out after me. "Can I be a bridesmaid? Please?"

"No! It's not gonna happen!" I yell back at her, closing the door behind me very quickly.

The next day, I go over to light's house for study time, as tutoring is no longer necessary at this point, with an entire elaborate plan on how to avoid Sayu and any questions she might ask.

All my preparations were for naught, though, as when I get there, nobody answers the door. I let myself, in, all the while saying, "Hello? Anyone here? It's me, Mirai." I take off my shoes, and continue asking, "Anyone here? Light-kun? Sayu-chan? Mrs. Yagami?"

Still no response, so I go upstairs to Light's room. I do our knock, before hearing, "Come in."

I immediately tense, before forcing myself to relax, and walk in. "Hey, Light-kun!" I say, with a guise of cheerfulness. "Ready to get started?"

"I better be." He says, grabbing his textbooks and arranging them on his desk. "The entrance exams are only a few days away."

"Well then, shall we?" I say, arranging my textbooks around me.

An hour passes, we ask each other questions back and forth, and actually manage to get some studying done. All the while, Ryuk crawls around the room, occasionally saying, "I found another camera!"

"Hey, Light-kun!" Sayu calls. "Dinner's ready! Mom says Mirai-chan can join us if she wants!"

Light looks over to me. I nod, and he calls out, "Alright! We'll be down in a second!" We organize our books, before going downstairs to the main room.

After sitting down, I look over to Sayu, who's watching a movie with rapt attention.

"I love you. Always." The actor on screen proclaims, and the actress drops her umbrella.

Sayu squeals. "Oh, Hideki Ryuga! I swear, he's perfect! How come no one in my class is like that?"

"Because, Sayu-chan," I explain, "no guy your age is mature enough to act like that."

"Sayu, just eat your dinner." Mrs. Yagami pleads to her daughter, who stays where she is, parked right in front of the TV.

"I'll eat later!" Sayu brushes it off.

A few minutes later, she says, "Huh? What's this?" I look over to the TV, and see a message has appeared at the top of the screen. "ICPO? They're saying that, 'In response to the Kira murders, Interpol has decided to dispatch a force of 1500 investigators to Japan.'" Both Light and I tense ever so slightly at this. "'The investigators were drawn from law enforcement agencies from its member nations.' Fifteen-hundred investigators? Whoa." Sayu says in awe.

"The ICPO sure is stupid." Light says. Quite a bold move, considering the likelihood of there being cameras in the main room, too. We all look at Light, who continues to talk. "I mean, there's no point in making this announcement. If they're gonna send all these people here to investigate, shouldn't they keep it a secret? Even the FBI agents that were secretly investigating were killed by Kira. Why would this be any different?"

"You're right." I say, "What reason would the ICPO have for doing this?"

"If you ask me," Light continues, "this is nothing more than a desperate attempt to shock Kira in the hopes that he'll reveal himself, somehow. Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Kira sees right through this."

We eat a couple minutes more, finishing, before Light stands up, saying, "Thanks for dinner, mom."

I follow suit. "Yes, thank you for dinner, Mrs. Yagami."

Instead of going upstairs, Light goes over to the cupboard, and grabs a bag of chips.

"Huh?" Sayu cries out in dismay. "You're eating a bag of chips? You just had dinner! Your good looks are going to go down the drain if you keep that up!"

"It's a late-night snack for studying." He explains, now grabbing a cup of coffee, before finally heading upstairs to his room, with myself trailing him. He locks the door behind us, as we return to our normal spots, and resume our studying. I ignore Ryuk lying on Light's bed, and sit away from him.

"I think that's it, you two." He says, exhaustion evident in his voice. "I found every camera they put in the house. I guess Shinigami get tired when they work hard. Now, let me explain where they all are. It's a little bit complicated, so listen up. There's nothing I hate more than explaining something twice."

' _Does that mean you hated having to tell me the same things you told Light-kun when we first met?'_ I think to myself.

"Alright, time to hit the books!" Light says, stretching his arms, and giving Ryuk a prompt to continue.

"There sure are a lot of cameras in this room. I counted sixty-four in total. I guess whoever put them here expected you to at least find some of them. What I wanna know is how am I gonna eat apples?" He freaks out. "Oh, yeah, I guess you two can't talk in here. But we better discuss this outside, tomorrow."

"I think I'm getting the hang of this, now." I say, a hidden response to Ryuk's concerns. _'Guessing from the amount of cameras in here, L wants to make a decision, quickly. Any normal person would slip under this pressure. Not us, L. You're going to have to try harder than this to get us to crack."_

Light opens the chips, and offers the bag to me. "Want any, Mirai-chan?"

I wave off the offer. "No thanks. I'm still full from dinner." I pointedly ignore Ryuk's sobbing from the floor.

A few minutes later, I hear Ryuk cry, "Oh, the symptoms are starting!" I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, acting like it's one of the questions in my textbook. _'Symptoms? Like, withdrawal symptoms? From apples? Really?'_

I suddenly smile, having figured out Light's plan. "I think I've got this, now."

He's writing down names on a piece of the Death Note hidden in the chip bag. Most likely, there's also a mini TV in the bag too, and Light's watching the news on silent, writing down names that he should know nothing of. _'I keep underestimating you, Light-kun.'_

He stretches, before throwing away the chip bag. "Alright, just a little longer."

We study for another thirty minutes, before I stretch, and glance at Light's clock. "Oh man, it's late." I say, rubbing my eyes, before packing up my books. "I should be getting home."

Light turns to me. "It was nice, having someone to study with. Do you want to do this again tomorrow?"

I smile at him. "Sure, that sounds good to me. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Good night, Light-kun."

"Good night, Mirai-chan." Light says as I close the door behind me.

"Oh, so you're gonna come back tomorrow?" Sayu smirks at me.

I rub the bridge of my nose momentarily. "Yes, Sayu-chan, I'm going to be back here tomorrow. For. Studying." I tap her nose twice, once for each of my last two words.

She pushes my hand away, yet still smirks, unfazed. "Yeah, but will you be studying your textbooks, or each other?"

A blush rises, unbidden, to my face. "Sh-shut up." I try to regain my composure, and try to rid myself of the stuttering that comes with my blushes. "Are you pushing to get us together? It sure seems that way. I know I'm fabulous," I flip my hair over my shoulder dramatically, over-emphasising my meaning, while walking down the stairs at the same time, "but do you really want me as a sister-in-law that badly?" Without giving her a chance to respond, I continue. "I'm not interested. I'm too used to looking at myself in the mirror." I give her a wink, and slip out the front door. Once outside, I take a deep breath, and walk home.

I spend the majority of the next day at Light's house, and after another, "Come in," we study silently together until just before sundown.

"Mirai-chan," Light says, out of the blue, "why don't we take a break, go to a park or something?"

"Why, Light-kun," I say, standing up, and cocking a hip, "are you asking me out?"

He groans. "Not you, too. Did Sayu get to you already? I swear, every time I bring a girl home, even if she just needs to return something of mine, Sayu will assume that we're dating." He rubs his forehead. "Every. Single. Time."

"Seriously?" I ask, surprised. Light nods. "Well, a break sounds pretty good right now. Sure, why not?"

I'm about to gather my books together, when Light says, "Don't worry about it. We'll come back for them later." I nod, grab my jacket, and follow Light and Ryuk outside.

We walk in silence for a few minutes, before Light speaks up. "Ryuk, could you check to see if anyone's following us?"

"Fine, fine." The contorted Shinigami flies off, only to return a few moments later. "Nope! Nobody's following you two."

"Are you sure about that? Ryuk?" Light questions.

"Gah, I'm sure nobody's following you, okay!" Ryuk, still contorted, hops along behind us. "Now, hurry up already, will ya? The symptoms are getting worse!" He complains exasperatedly.

"I really hope you're not saying what you think I'd want to hear just to get some apples." Light accuses.

"Woah! Hold it right there! I just flew out and checked a one-hundred meter radius around you two, and there was no one there, so for the last time, I'm sure, okay?!" He yells, still hopping along.

"Alright, but on the news they said that they were dispatching fifteen-hundred investigators to Japan." Light calmly retorts.

"They're bluffing! You said so yourself! If it were really happening, they wouldn't announce their arrival, instead, they'd come and investigate secretly!" Ryuk rambles.

"I suppose you're right." Light continues. "But still…"

"Light," I warn, "stop teasing him, you'll only make his complaining worse."

"Fine, I'll buy you some apples." Light finally gives in.

"Nice." Ryuk smirks.

I wait with Ryuk outside, ignoring his handstands, while Light goes inside the store to buy the fruit.

"Thank you, come again!" The storeowner says to Light as he leaves.

"Light, hurry up!" Ryuk complains.

We keep walking over to an empty corner of a nearby park, where I end up feeding Ryuk the apples until he calms down enough to eat them on his own. "You know, Light," Ryuk says, "You really haven't been all that nice to me. You have me looking all over for cameras, telling me that I can't even eat apples in the house anymore, it's not right." He continues to complain as he straightens out, and cracks his neck.

"Make sure you eat the core, as well." Light says, completely unfazed by Ryuk's whining.

"You know, I might just write your name in my Death Note and kill you, just like that." Ryuk threatens, and Light laughs. "I wouldn't laugh, If I were you." Ryuk continues.

"Right." Light says as he walks away. "That reminds me, we still have one finishing touch left to add." I nod, as I trail after them, back to the Yagami house.

Once inside Light's room again, I gather up my books, while Ryuk asks Light, "So, you're gonna keep quiet and pretend to study again, huh?"

Instead of doing just that, Light turns on the TV. "You're watching TV?" Ryuk questions, again, without a response.

I finish packing my books, and join Light watching the news. A few minutes later, I say, "My parents are expecting me home early today. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Mirai-chan." Light says, as I sneak out the door, finally avoiding a relationship confrontation with Sayu.

Four days later, I'm roused early from bed by my parents.

"Get up, Mirai, you don't want to be late for the entrance exams!" My mom says, and I glance over at the clock.

"Mom, I have another half-hour before I need to be up. Couldn't you have let me sleep?" I whine, trying to pull the covers over my head.

My father throws the blanket off of me, and I squeak at the sudden drop in temperature. "Get up now, young lady! You might as well spend these extra few minutes to cram more!"

"Father! Not you too!" I cry at the loss of my sleep. I try to stare my parents down, before sighing. "Fine. I'll get up, just get out!" I practically throw them out, before going to get changed. I join my smiling parents downstairs for a quick breakfast, pouring over my notes in rapid form. The allocated half-hour later, I race outside to get to the subway station, where Light is waiting.

"Oh, morning, Mirai-chan." Light says in greeting.

"Good morning, Light-kun, Ryuk." I nod at each of them in turn, and before any other words could be exchanged, the subway train pulls up to the stop, and opens its doors for us. We get on, and sit side by side silently for the entire trip, with the exception of Ryuk.

"I'm relieved. We don't have to deal with wiretaps in the house anymore." Ryuk comments to us, but neither of us respond.

The subway pulls up to the stop nearest to To-Oh University, and about ten of the passengers, including Light and I, get off. We walk towards the University together, in companionable silence.

"You two there!" A man calls out to us from outside the University entrance. "The exam will be starting in ten minutes, so you better hurry up!"

We keep walking along at the same pace, quickly passing him, with Light saying, "It's fine. We planned to get here three minutes before the test. I hate waiting. If anything, we're here too early."

"Well, well," Ryuk comments, "aren't you confident?"

We register at the entrance, and make our way into the hall where the exam is being taken, and sit at our specified seats. Ten minutes later, a bell rings, and the man at the front calls out, "And… begin!"

I quickly scan over the exam, beginning to fill in a few answers, when the man at the front begins to make his way towards me, stopping a couple of rows ahead of me, and saying, "Student number one-six-two! Sit properly in your chair!"

I glance up from my exam, to see a student with messy black hair, a white sweatshirt and baggy jeans sitting with his knees tucked up by his chest, feet on the chair. _'No wonder why he was called out. But I wonder why he's sitting like that in the first place…'_ I shake the thoughts out of my head, and return to my exam, but I glance up again a few seconds later, to see Light looking back at the odd student, with him looking back at Light, and a feeling of foreboding fills me.

I focus in on my exam, and continue to answer all of the questions as correctly as I can. Once the professors call "Time!", I stand in the line to hand in my answer sheet, confident in my answers.

After handing in my exam answers, I walk home with Light, contemplating all the while the strange student who had sat two rows ahead of me.

 _It's that dreary world again. I'm in more of a jungle area, with large roots growing above ground, and dead vines hanging from everything._

 _I let myself wander aimlessly, until I come across three Shinigami playing a card game, and one standing outside of their group, talking to them._

" _Ugh, it seems like a lot of Shinigami are observing the human world, lately." The one standing remarks. "What's with that, anyway?"_

" _Turns out that Ryuk is being kept by a human!" The one made of bones responds._

" _What? What's he thinking?" The standing one leans in. "Seriously…"_

" _He's a disgrace to the pride of the Shinigami." The one with the long white hair scoffs._

" _No, I'm talking about the human who's keeping Ryuk!" The standing one exclaims, making all three of the players turn towards him. "Who would want him as a pet? Aren't pets supposed to be cute?" They all laugh, and I shake my head, before turning away._

" _When you're right, you're right." The one made of bones says, trailing off._

" _So, what's the story of this human, anyway? Is it a male or a female?" The standing one asks._

" _Who knows?" The white-haired one shrugs off the question, trying to return to the game._

" _In that case, I think I'd better go take a closer look." The standing one turns, and walks away._

" _Oh boy." The white-haired one sighs, putting down another card._

 _Soon, the entire world begins to fade to black._

I shoot up in bed, scared from the other-worldly experience. I look over at my clock, to see that it's only five seconds away from going off. _'Talk about good timing.'_ I think, and immediately hit the cancel button the second it goes off.

I stand up and stretch, grabbing the white blouse and pencil skirt I laid out last night for today's Welcome Ceremony. I quickly change, grab something to eat, grab my dolled-up parents, and head out to To-Oh.

Once there, I separate from my parents, promising to meet up with them after the ceremonies, and go to find Light and Ryuk. They're standing by the entrance, seeming totally casual. I stand beside Light wordlessly, and just look at the university building with him.

"You're both college students now, it's kind of exciting! I'm filled with joy!" Ryuk remarks sarcastically. I give him a sideways glance, before returning to my original pose.

We walk inside, once the moment is over, and make our way to the auditorium, taking our specified seats. I somehow manage to sit next to Light, but I force myself to ignore him. I try to focus in on the ceremonies, but my mind wanders.

It's been three months since the entrance exams, but that one odd student hasn't left the forefront of my mind. _'Why on earth was he staring at Light-kun?'_ I shake my head to clear away the thoughts, and finally focus in.

"Now for the freshmen address," the man at the microphone announces, "freshmen representative, Light Yagami."

"Yes." Light says, standing up, and walks to the stage.

"Ooh, impressive." Ryuk says, smiling.

"And freshmen representative, Hideki Ryuga." The man continues, and the strange student from three months ago stands up.

"Oh, that would appear to be me." He says, walking up to the stage behind Light.

I raise an eyebrow. _'Hideki Ryuga? Like, the pop idol? But he looks nothing like him! If anything, it's an alias… Oh god, it's an alias! That means he has to hide his name, which means that he likely knows about Kira, which means he's likely to be on the task force, which means that he's likely following a suspect. That suspect could easily be either Light-kun or I, which means I have to calm down, and act natural.'_

I take a deep breath, and force myself to pay attention to Light's address.

"As all of us embark on this new chapter of our lives," Light reads, "the moment we have long been waiting for has arrived. I'm honored to be giving the address to this year's To Oh University entering class. This is a dream come true for many of us, who wish to excel in our academics. We have been given a great honor today; let's make the most of it as we move forward into this new year."

Everyone applauds. Light then bows, and hands the page over to 'Hideki'.

"And now, for Hideki Ryuga." The MC announces.

'Hideki' walks up to the mic, and reads, "As all of us embark on this new chapter of our lives, the moment we have long been waiting and preparing for has arrived. I'm honored to be giving the address to this year's To Oh University entering class. I look forward to getting to know you all. I am freshman representative, Hideki Ryuga."

Everyone applauds again, Light bows once more, while 'Hideki' just scratches his head. _'He doesn't even know what to do now. Who is this guy?'_ 'Hideki' follows Light as they both walk off the stage. While they walk down the stairs, I notice that 'Hideki' is whispering something, and I pretend to turn my attention to the stage, keeping an ear open for anything they might say to each other.

"You're planning to join the police agency when you graduate." 'Hideki' seems to continue. "You've already got experience, seeing as you've helped on a number of cases in the past, now, you're showing an interest in the Kira case."

' _Just who is this guy? And how does he know more about Light-kun than his stalker girls?'_

"I'm impressed by your abilities and your sense of justice. If you promise not to tell anyone about this, I have important information about the Kira investigation that I'd like to share with you." He says to Light.

' _Could, could it be? No, it's impossible! There's no way!'_ My thoughts run rampant.

Light closes his eyes. "I won't tell anyone. What is it?"

'Hideki' turns to Light. "I want to tell you, I'm L."

My eyes widen a fraction of a margin. _'What do you know? My thoughts were correct, as per usual.'_

I glance over to Light for half a second, noting his ever-so-slight shaking, before he pauses. I turn my eyes back to the stage, still paying attention to the exchange happening beside me.

"If you are who you say you are, then you have nothing but my respect and admiration." Light's lie flows from him smoothly.

"Thank you." L responds. "The reason I chose to reveal my identity to you is because I think you could be of some help to us in the Kira investigation."

Ryuk laughs from behind us. "If this guy is really L like he says, then consider me impressed."

' _Quite. I hadn't expected him to reveal his identity. But he's cornered us with this. If we write down the alias, we might accidentally kill the pop star, Hideki Ryuga, revealing us. And even if we actually kill him, if he's a stand-in, then the real L-san will know in an instant that it's us, or rather, Light-kun. I'd rather not lose my partner in this game just yet.'_

The rest of the ceremony passes by, with no other exchange between them. Light glances over at me once, and I give him a slight nod to communicate that I had heard and understood everything that they had said.

I walk out of the building behind Light and Ryuk silently, keeping enough distance so as to not appear like I'm with them. Although, I am close enough to hear Ryuk remark, "I hadn't expected the ceremony to be so interesting…"

Once we reach the road, I hear L call out, "Hey Light-kun."

They turn to him, and I keep walking, albeit at a slower pace. I hear Ryuk say, "Oh? I think it's your new friend."

"Nice meeting you." L says, slumped over, with his hands in his pockets.

"No, the pleasure was mine." Light replies politely, and L walks over to a waiting limousine and butler, who opens the door for him, a sight that I stop to stare at.

"Well, I'm sure I'll see you on campus." L says to Light.

"Yeah, take care." Light says as L gets in.

L and his butler drive off, leaving Light, Ryuk, and I to stare at the retreating vehicle for a moment.

We leave to get onto the subway together, get off together, and say our goodbyes.

Once I get home, I text my parents to inform them of where I am, get to my room, and have my mental breakdown.

"Damn it! He got us! We're cornered!" I cry, sitting on my bed, with both of my hands over my face. "We can't write his name! We can't try to kill him! For all we know, this is just a trap! If we do kill him and he's just a stand in, then we'd be singing to the real L-san that we're Kira! Killing him would be the same as begging to be caught! It's not like we could arrange for someone else to kill him. If we managed to find out his name, we could have him die in an accident or commit suicide, but if this is a trap, then he's told everyone that if he dies Light-kun is Kira!" I rub the bridge of my nose. "I could have L-san killed, Light-kun caught and killed, and everyone believe that Kira is dead, then arise again like Light-kun's killing from beyond the grave, but I can't do this alone! There are circumstances that I might not see coming, and end up getting myself killed. No, I need Light-kun alive and working with me."

I take several deep breaths, before continuing my rant to myself. "I had considered that L-san would reveal himself, but it was so absurd that I brushed it off! I should have come up with a plan in case this happened. Then again, he might just be a stand in, and be telling every suspect the same thing, but there's nothing we can do about it! For L, this strategy is a solid defence, and it lets him both attack and defend, while confronting Kira directly."

I hold my arms out at ninety degree angles, facing away from my body, palms up and fingers splayed, with my head tilted down. "You got us, L-san. That was a brilliant move. There's no doubt that 'Ryuga-san' will keep trying to get close to Light-kun. He'll keep trying to move in, playing the absent minded genius, trying to get us to slip up, and we'll pretend like there's nothing wrong." I let my arms fall, and begin to laugh quietly to myself, satisfied with my plan, believing that Light had come to the same conclusion. "This is perfect. If anything, this is proof that they have nothing on us yet. So this is just one big game of cat and mouse. A match of wits between two parties, with one having a hidden player. On the surface, we'll be three friendly classmates. I might as well try to get close to 'Ryuga-san' and gain the upper hand on him. But in reality, we'll be investigating L-san, and he investigates Light-kun, hopefully never guessing that I might be involved as well. If it's friendship you want, 'Ryuga-san', you'll get it. Hopefully either Light-kun or I will earn your trust as well. Once we've gotten what we need, we'll kill you, with our own hands if we must."

I grin wildly. "Very interesting game you've set up, L-san. Very interesting indeed…"

 **And done! Woot! Things are beginning to heat up, I've got a few quirks planned for the leading lady, it's Summer, and I've got enough sugar to get me through to next week!**

 **So, review, comment, favourite and follow, because seeing that someone likes my work fills me with warm and fuzzy feelings! Or ignore this A.N. if you want, the views are still very much so appreciated!**

 **Until next time!**


	6. Doubt

"Finally." I sigh in contentment, as I enter the library. A haven of books; millions of pages of words dying to be read and reread by eyes desperate for information and entertainment.

I saunter over to the information desk, looking at the dozens of shelves around me. Once there, I whisper to the librarian, "Excuse me, but could you direct me to the fiction section, please?"

She adjusts her glasses to get a better look at me, studies me for a couple seconds, smiles, and finally points to her right. I smile back at her, whisper a "Thank you!" and make my way to the shelves the librarian had specified.

I scan over three shelves, before I come across the mystery section. My smile grows broader, and my search resumes, until I spy the author I'd been searching for. I reach for the Agatha Christie novel, "Death on the Nile", one of her few mysteries that I have not yet read. I pull it, along with a few of her other works from the shelves, and take my stack of mysteries to the front desk to sign them out. Or at least, try to.

I emerge from the shelves, carrying all eight novels, thinking to myself, _'This might last me a week. I should probably become familiar with the surrounding areas of the library, not to mention befriend the librarians-'_

I'm startled out of my thoughts when someone bumps into me. Yes, they bumped into me, and not the other way around. I blurt out a, "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going!" out of habit.

I kneel down to pick up the books, and I hear, "No, it was my fault, here, let me…" by a familiar voice. I look over to the now kneeling 'Hideki', who picks up a couple of the books I dropped. I quickly stop staring, and pick up a few myself. I hear him say, "I see you appreciate classics. Not many do, these days."

We both stand up, and I take the four novels he had in his hands. "Agatha Christie-sama was one of the best. Her mysteries are oftentimes the few that manage to trick me. That's not exactly something that happens often, especially in books."

"I agree." He says, neither of us moving for the conversation. "Too many mysteries are far too predictable." We have a few seconds of awkward silence, before he asks me, "I don't believe we've formally met. I'm Hideki Ryuga." He bows to me, and I quickly put my books down.

I bow in return, and say, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ryuga-san. My name is Mirai Tsukino."

"The pleasure is mine, Tsukino-san." He says as we both straighten up. "What are you hoping to major in?"

"Criminology, isn't it obvious?" I gesture to the books, and he chuckles. "I'm hoping to become a detective when I'm old enough. My sister was killed in a robbery years ago, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. I don't want any other kid to feel that way, like the world didn't care that your best friend was just murdered in front of your eyes."

"I'm sorry to hear that." He says, and I nod.

"I'm used to it. Doesn't bother me anymore." I shake my head to rid myself of my suddenly depressing thoughts. "What about you? What are you planning to major in?"

He looks away. "I haven't decided yet."

"No matter how much of a bad decision that is, I'll accept it." I say, finally picking up my books, and starting to make my way to the information desk, gesturing with my head to get him to follow me. I quickly sign them out under my name, and we head outside, talking about anything that comes to mind.

We eventually sit down on a bench, and he pulls his feet up onto the bench the same way he had every time I'd seen him sit.

"So, Tsukino-san, I wonder, what do you think of Kira?" He asks, out of the blue.

I look over to him, then at the sky, and lie, "I believe that Kira is doing what he believes is right. Killing criminals in order to achieve peace, or something along those lines. But that doesn't justify the fact that what he's doing is murder, and I believe that he must be brought to stand trial for his crimes."

He nods, and looks at the sky with me. "You have a strong sense of justice, Tsukino-san."

"Thank you." I lean back, and voice the thoughts I've had for days a few moments later. "Hideki Ryuga… No matter how I look at your name, I always come to the conclusion that it's an alias." He straightens up at this. "I know, that's a ridiculous thought, how could your parents have known that they gave you the same name as a future pop star?" I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly. "But, I've learned to trust my instincts, and that's what they're telling me. It's absurd, though. Why on earth would you need an alias?"

"Why indeed…" He trails off, before standing up. "I should get going now. It was nice meeting you, Tsukino-san."

"It was nice meeting someone else who's just as smart as me, if not more so, Ryuga-san." I say, and bow to him as he walks away. I gather my books and take them home, placing them on my desk ceremoniously, before grabbing the top novel, which happened to be "Murder on the Orient Express", and heading back to the university.

I've been walking around campus for the last hour, just enjoying the sun and quiet, whilst looking for a suitable hideaway of some kind to read in peace, as the library doesn't have too many reading areas.

I reach the tennis courts just in time to see Light and Hideki getting into their stances, before Hideki serves, not even giving Light a chance to hit the ball, sending it directly towards Ryuk, who quickly dodges with a "Gah!"

Light slowly turns from the ball to Hideki, staring at him incredulously.

Hideki stands, and says, "Fifteen, love." I make my way over to their court, outside of the mesh, and sit down to watch their game.

He straightens from his stance, and comments, "Woah, Ryuga. You sure don't mess around."

I raise an eyebrow at Light's dropping of an honorific, and file the information away to inquire about later.

"He who strikes first wins." Hideki says, as he positions himself into a stance to serve again.

A half hour later, a considerably sized crowd has gathered around the courts to watch Light and Hideki play. Appointing themselves, an umpire and a line judge decided to help with their match a couple games back.

I've been watching the games this entire time, wondering if maybe, just maybe, there was another meaning behind this match. _'There's no doubt about it. I know that this isn't just a friendly game. They've got another goal in mind; I think Ryuga-san is trying to use this as a test to see if Light-kun is Kira.'_

I begin to watch both of them carefully, as if watching them any closer will let me hear their thoughts. _'Kira might hate losing, but then again, it's human nature. Everyone hates to lose.'_ I deduce, looking at Hideki, and I turn to Light. _'If Light-kun throws the match, it could work against him. If Ryuga-san expects him to win, he might also expect him to lose on purpose to try and avoid suspicion. You can't really profile someone based on a tennis match, so that means that Ryuga-san has some other goal in mind. Either way, Light-kun's pride isn't going to let Ryuga-san win.'_

The umpire calls out, "That's four games all! Light Yagami to serve!"

I hear Ryuk laugh beside me. "And just like that, we have an umpire and a line judge."

I return my attention to the two tennis players, first analyzing Hideki. _'He thinks he knows what Light-kun's thinking. That slight smirk is a dead giveaway.'_ I look back to Light. _'This is a token gesture; Light-kun doesn't buy this as a friendly game at all. This is meant to make them appear closer.'_ Back to Hideki. _'Because they're playing tennis, Light-kun will assume that Ryuga-san is trying to get closer, laying the foundations to get to know him better.'_ Light. _'He thinks this is a trap, to get him to say something only Kira would know.'_ Hideki. _'Light-kun will have to ask for proof that he can trust Ryuga-san first, and the only way to win Light-kun's trust is for Ryuga-san to share what he knows.'_ Light. _'He'll want some proof that Ryuga-san is in charge of the Kira investigation, or more importantly, that he is in fact L, as he claims.'_ Hideki. _'So, it's logical that Light-kun will want some kind of confirmation, a third party saying that Ryuga-san really is L, which means a trip to Task Force Headquarters. This'll be fun.'_ Back to Light. _'Oh, he's going for the winning shot. And…'_ He strikes the ball back to Hideki's side, hitting the ground before he has a chance to get it.

"Game and set!" The umpire calls out. "Won by Light Yagami! Six games to four!" The entire crowd applauds, and I run to the nearest vending machine to get two waters. I race back, and push my way through the crowd to see them.

"And here I was, thinking that it was just a friendly game." I say as I get to them, and hand each of them a bottle of water. They both nod their thanks, and I relax into an easy stance. "You two were both playing like pros."

Light takes a deep drink, before asking, "Have you two met already?"

I nod. "Yeah, we… Bumped into each other in the library, and got to talking."

Hideki raises an eyebrow at me. "I still don't understand why you had eight books with you."

I look away. "One four-hundred-page, multi-chapter novel will last me a day, at most. I don't feel like making the trek to the library every single day."

"Mirai-chan, I didn't know you were a speed reader." Light says, looking right at me.

I turn back to him. "You never noticed how quickly I went through my textbooks when we were studying?"

Hideki shifts awkwardly, probably feeling like a third wheel. "You two are familiar with each other?"

Light turns back to him. "I tutored her back in High School, we've been friends since."

"I see." Hideki says, suddenly looking more relaxed.

"I should let you two get changed into some street clothes." I say, waving them off to the changing rooms.

A few minutes later, they come back out, and we walk together.

"As expected, you beat me." Hideki says, trying to start a conversation.

"It's been a while since I've had to play that hard." Light admits, and we walk a couple more steps before he says, "I'm feeling kind of hungry, after that match, plus, there's something I wanted to ask you, Ryuga. Want to go somewhere to get something to eat?"

"You humored me with the tennis match, the least I can do is answer some of your questions. But…" He trails off, glancing at me.

I sigh, and say, "I do believe that your name is an alias. However, as you asked me about Kira in the library, I have reason to believe that either A, you are Kira yourself, or B, you are working on the task force trying to catch him. Light-kun has questions for you, so I can safely assume that those questions are related to the Kira case. Therefore, you likely work on the investigation team."

He nods, and says, "I'm impressed by your deductive reasoning, Tsukino-san." and turns back to Light. "Before this conversation goes any further, there's something I'd like to tell you."

"Oh? What's that?" Light asks.

"I suspect that you, Light Yagami, are Kira." He says, never blinking. "Now, if you still want to ask me something, please, go ahead."

Light and I both stop in our tracks, but Hideki keeps walking ahead, before realizing that we'd both stopped.

"Heh, you think I'm Kira?" Light asks, surprised.

"Really?" I ask, then think about it. _'Damn. Either he's smarter than we thought, or Light-kun's been slipping up. Better agree with him, though, just in case.'_ "It's a logical conclusion, I can see how you came to that, but that doesn't mean that it's correct. It just, doesn't seem like something Light-kun would do." I say, playing both sides.

"Well, when I say I suspect you, it's only a one percent possibility. That aside, I don't mind telling you that once I'm sure you aren't Kira, and I can verify that your deductive skills are as strong as I think they are, I'd like nothing more than to have you work with me on this investigation." He turns, and continues walking, and I do the same, leaving Light behind. "Tsukino-san," he says once I'm walking side by side with him, "I don't believe that you are Kira, and your deductive skills could be useful in the investigation. If you allow me to test your skills, I may be able to hire you onto the investigation team."

I nod, and say, "Fair enough. Can I assume that you are L, then?"

"You think quickly." He nods. "You would work well on the team."

"Thank you." I say, and we continue to walk in companionable silence. _'That was cleverly worded, L-san. No matter how little you suspect Light-kun, you still have grounds to prevent him from meeting the taskforce. I, however, am not a suspect. This will work out wonderfully in our favor.'_

We walk the rest of the way to the café in silence, and sit in a booth hidden in a corner. "This coffee shop is one of my favourites in the area, and if we sit here, there's no chance of anyone overhearing us." Light says as we sit down, Light and I on one bench, Hideki on the other.

"Thanks for showing me this place, I can see why you like it." Hideki responds politely.

"Not to mention, we're so out of the way here, that no one's going to bother giving you a hard time about the way you sit." I say breezily, no longer concerned about politeness.

"I don't sit like this because I want to, I have to sit like this. You see, if I were to sit normally, my deductive skills would immediately be reduced by forty percent." He explains.

"Really? Huh." I say, new information stored.

"So, Light, what was it you wanted to ask me?" He says, turning to Light, having also dropped the honorifics.

"Right, well, I'm sure it can wait until you're convinced I'm not Kira, so please, let's talk about whatever you want to." Light says, taking a sip of his tea.

"You're both under no obligation to do this, but, would you mind submitting yourselves to a test of your deductive reasoning skills?" Hideki asks us.

"I don't see why not." I agree, and Light nods.

"Alright then," Hideki says, pulling three pictures out of his pocket, and placing them on the table. "You can begin by taking a look at these." I look down at them, as he keeps talking. "Photographs of three notes, written by prison inmates while under Kira's control, just prior to their deaths. None of this information has been made public. You can take as long as you want to look them over, please, tell me what you think."

I pick up one picture, and immediately recognize it as the first part of our message to L. "Huh. You say he can control his victims? Interesting." I say out loud. "If you read the top row of characters on this picture, it says, 'L, do you know?'" I grab the other two pictures, including the one in Light's hand, and line them up, out of order. "This one says, 'That love apples,' and this one's 'gods of death'." I pause, and let Light rearrange them.

"It's like Kira's mocking you, Ryuga." Light says, "If you arrange them like this, it says, 'L, do you know? Gods of death love apples." He arranges them in the way that they're meant to be read. "However, there are obvious print numbers on the backs of each picture. Arranging them by that, you get, 'L, do you know? Love apples, gods of death.' That doesn't sound right, and based on that, it doesn't sound like Kira would have wanted you to read it this way."

"That's incorrect." Hideki says immediately.

"Did Kira leave another note like this?" I ask, quickly thinking, and praying that my guess is right.

"You'd be correct, Tsukino-san." He says, and pulls out a fourth picture, a fake, and puts it in the lineup. "When we add this one, it reads, 'L, do you know? Gods of death who love apples have red hands."

"Odd, that still doesn't make sense. Why would Kira leave you such a meaningless secret message? Unless, there's another meaning within the message…" I mumble to myself, still looking at the pictures, playing the innocent college student well.

"Seeing as how I only had three photographs to work with, my deduction was perfect." Light complains.

"No, it wasn't." Hideki drawls. "The truth is, there were four of them. If you'd figured that out, like Tsukino-san, it would have been perfect. Even though you knew the message was incomplete, you decided that there were only three notes. You never even considered that there might be a fourth. What do you make of that?"

Light's silent for a minute, before he gives, and says, "Well, you got me there. I didn't think of that. In any case, the likelihood that this message will lead you to Kira is not very great, so you can stop pouring over the pictures now, Mirai-chan." I blush in embarrassment, and sit back in my chair normally. "Besides, we all know that gods of death don't exist." He takes another sip of his tea.

"If you were me, faced with someone who might be Kira, how would you go about establishing this person's innocence or guilt? You need to be absolutely sure." Hideki asks, and I sip my tea and think.

"I would probably try to get him to say something that was never made public in any way, something that only Kira could know." Light puts down his tea and straightens. "Kind of like what you were doing just now."

"Truly amazing." Hideki admits. "What's truly incredible is that I've asked countless detectives that same question, and it took most of them minutes to even come up with an answer. But you-you immediately thought of a scenario in which Kira is speaking directly to the investigator. I'm impressed. You'll make a fine detective, Light."

"Yeah, but it's a bit of a double edged sword. The more incredible my answers, the more of a suspect I become." Light says easily, taking another sip of his tea.

"Yes, it's about three percent now." Hideki comments, and continues. "However, it's made me that much more determined to work with you on this investigation. You see, I'm in a position so that even if you are Kira, it would still be to my benefit to have you working alongside us. You know why I say that?"

Light catches on. "If I cooperate with you, there's a chance I can help the investigation to move forward. And if I'm Kira, I might reveal myself. In other words, whether I'm Kira or not, you stand to gain either way. It's a very smart move on your part, but I think you might be getting the wrong idea. It's true that I have an interest in the Kira case, and yes, detective work is a hobby of mine, but I know that I'm not Kira, and I certainly don't want to be killed by him."

"Besides," He continues his rant, "what proof have you given us that you yourself aren't Kira? I mean, it hardly seems fair for only one of us to be investigated, wouldn't you say? At such a point, neither of us can prove that we're not Kira. However, if you are in fact L, I don't imagine it would be that hard for you to prove it to me. My worries would be quelled if, say, someone from the Task Force Headquarters, or some other third party, was able to confirm your identity."

"Very well." Hideki says, giving in. "I'm currently working alongside your father, Light, along with several other senior officers from the NPA. Now, if I understand you correctly, if I take you two to Task Force Headquarters, you'll help us with the investigation. Am I safe in making this assumption?"

He looks at me, and I nod. I open my mouth to say something, but two phones ringing simultaneously interrupt me.

"Excuse me…" Hideki says, reaching to grab his phone, and Light does the same.

"There goes mine," He says, and they both answer at the same time.

"Yes?" Hideki says into the phone, and waits, while Light doesn't say anything. Hideki's eyes widen, and he says in a panicked voice, "Light, it's your!" He trails off.

Light looks up panicked as well. "My father, he had a heart attack!"

My own eyes widen, and I stand up, saying, "Well, come on! We need to get to the hospital!"

Twenty minutes later, all three of us are sitting in Mr. Yagami's hospital room.

"I'll see you tomorrow, have them call me if you need me to bring anything." Mrs. Yagami says, care and worry in her voice. "Light? You take care of him, okay?"

"Sure." He agrees, still slightly shaken from the news. Mrs. Yagami leaves the room, closing the door behind her, and all three of us turn to Mr. Yagami lying on his bed.

"So the doctors think stress was the only cause?" Light asks, the supposed rest of the question hanging in the air. _'Are you sure it wasn't Kira?'_

"Yeah. To be honest, I thought it was Kira when I first collapsed, but I'll be alright." He reassures his son. "It seems I've been pushing myself a bit too hard lately."

"Indeed." Hideki adds. "It must have added to your stress knowing that your son is a suspect in this investigation."

Light looks over at him, offended. "You actually told my father that?"

"Yes." Hideki says, with no emotion in his eyes. "In fact, I've told everything. It's true, he even knows that I am L."

Light and I both look back to Mr. Yagami, but he looks at me. Hideki picks up on this, and says, "Don't worry about Tsukino-san. She figured everything out already, and I believe that we can trust her. She may turn out to be an integral part of the team."

I raise an eyebrow, but don't comment on the implications of his words.

Mr. Yagami nods, turns back to Light, and says, "That's correct. This man is L. To protect his identity, we on the Task Force refer to him as Ryuzaki, but make no mistake, it's him."

We both look at Ryuzaki, and I think, _'Well, it really is him. We don't have to kill him now, we can bide our time and watch. You just keep upping the ante, don't you, L?'_

"So, Ryuzaki-san," Mr. Yagami asks, "now that you've had the chance to talk to my son, is he cleared as a suspect?"

"When I say I suspect him," Ryuzaki explains, "be assured that it's very minor. We've gone over this, but I'll explain it again. Not long ago, Kira killed twelve FBI agents who had come to Japan to assist us. They were instructed to follow people connected to the Japanese police. One of these agents, Raye Penber, exhibited unusual behaviour before he died."

Light leans back in his chair, and crosses his arms. "I understand. And I was one of the people Raye Penber was investigating before he died, right? It only makes sense that I'd be a suspect. No, to be more precise, there's no one else you could suspect."

I raise an eyebrow at Light, but make no comment. _'What on earth are you doing, Light-kun? Digging your own grave?'_

Ryuzaki looks at Light a few seconds longer, before speaking. "I find Light's deductive reasoning impressive. He's always quick and to the point."

Light steels himself, and says, "Ryuga, I'd like to help with the investigation. My father has erased any doubts I might have had about your true identity. Also, I'd like to catch Kira so I can prove, once and for all, that I'm not him."

"No, Light." Mr. Yagami discourages. "This is a time in your life when you should be studying to become a police officer. It won't be too late to join us once you are done."

"Come on dad, what are you talking about?" Light asks, disappointment in his voice. "Who knows how many years that'll take? Besides, don't you remember my promise? That if something ever happened to you, I would find Kira, and make sure he gets executed." He looks down at his lap, determination on his face.

A few tense seconds pass, before Mr. Yagami speaks again. "Light, listen to me. Kira is pure evil, we can all agree on that. But recently, I've starting thinking of this situation in a whole different way. What is truly evil is the power to kill people, and any person who has come to possess this power is cursed. No matter how you use it, no true happiness can be obtained like that, not by killing other people."

"I think you're absolutely right." Ryuzaki says, grabbing everyone's attention. "If Kira is just a normal person who somehow obtained this awful power, I would say that he's cursed."

"Ryuzaki-san, I'm sorry for all this trouble, but I'll be back at work as soon as the doctors let me out of here." Mr. Yagami apologizes, before the door opens, and a nurse comes in.

"Excuse me, but visiting hours were over ten minutes ago." She informs us, and I nod.

"Thank you, we'll be leaving shortly." I say, and she leaves. I turn to Ryuzaki and Light, and ask, "Shall we?" They both nod, say their goodbyes, and leave.

Just before I leave the room, I hear Mr. Yagami say, "Miss Tsukino?" I turn back to him from the doorway, and he continues. "You're a bright young woman with a great future. Don't throw your life away for this investigation."

I sigh, and say, "I'd rather lose my life in order to save others, than protect my own life and lose innocents in the process."

He nods. "You have a strong sense of justice, Miss Tsukino. Have a good night."

I wave. "Good night, Mr. Yagami."

Once outside, I interrupt a conversation between Light and Ryuzaki.

"Well, that's no good, I can't deprive you of basic human rights." Ryuzaki explains, "Furthermore, it would be complete nonsense for the investigator to take suggestions from the suspect."

Light nods. "I understand."

Ryuzaki sighs. "Don't worry so much. Be patient, it will become apparent to us whether or not you're Kira. And listening to that conversation between you and your father, I was almost convinced you might not be him. Light," A note of emotion, concern, enters his voice. "Please take good care of Mr. Yagami."

"Of course. Oh, and one more thing." Light adds. "I know I agreed to help with the investigation, but I don't think I'll be able to do much until my father is healthy again."

Ryuzaki nods in understanding. "Yes, of course."

They say their goodbyes to each other, and Light goes to walk home, with Ryuk flying behind him.

Ryuzaki then turns to me. "Ah, Tsukino-san."

I wave it off. "Please, Mirai will work fine. Should I call you Hideki, Ryuga, or Ryuzaki?"

"Ryuzaki would be preferred the majority of the time, Mirai-san, but I do require that you call me Ryuga when we're at the university." He explains.

"Very well then, Ryuzaki-san. Going off of what you said in the room, you made it sound like you'd already hired me to work on the Kira investigation." I say, and if I didn't know better, he almost looks a little disappointed.

"Do you not want to work the case?" He asks, not a trace of sadness in his voice. Must've been my imagination.

"Of course I do. You just hadn't run the idea past me, and I became slightly lost. No big deal." I shrug it off, and Ryuzaki's car pulls up to the curb.

"I'll email you the times and dates of our meetings." He says as he gets in.

"How did you-" I start to question, before shaking my head. "No, never mind, you're L, of course you know my email. Have a good night, Ryuzaki-san."

"Good night Mirai-san." He says back to me, just before the car drives away.

I stare at the departing vehicle for another moment, before turning and walking home, alone. _'Before we had created Kira, and done away with all of the criminals in this world, you couldn't set foot outside of your house in the downtown of Tokyo once the sun sets. Now, there's nothing to worry about, wandering the streets, alone, at night. Too many criminals are too scared to commit another crime, for fear that Kira's wrath will strike them down.'_

I continue walking through the quiet city, and I'm nearly to the subway station, when a hand darts out of the alley I'm passing, grasping my arm. It quickly lets go, however, and someone starts choking and gasping from the alley beside me, and I hear a loud thud. I shine the light from my phone into the alley, and see a forty-year old man taking his final breaths. His eyes widen when he sees me, just as he dies.

I raise an eyebrow, as this was not one of the criminals whose names we had written down, however, the man had clearly died of a heart attack. I look around me, but see no one. I shrug, and continue on my way, thinking, _'Odd… It's like someone was protecting me.'_ At that, a small breeze brushed through my hair, and I felt instantly comforted. _'Interesting. Very, very interesting…'_

 **My editor is a slave driver. I finish one chapter, she says, "Great. Where's the next one? It isn't started? Do it now!"**

" **But, but I'm already ahead of schedule!"**

" **Don't you have summer camp sometime in the next few months?"**

" **Well, yeah, but-"**

" **Well, you might as well stock up on chapters so you can goof off later."**

 **True story.**

 **Still, she gives me half an idea, then I go on a road trip to Alpha Centauri with it and take the scenic route back. Usually by then it's half burned, but man, does it have some good stories to tell.**

 **Review if you want! Oh, and apparently, it's my birthday tomorrow. Well. That was fast.**

 **Fare thee well!**


	7. Assault

My addition to the task force team was met with… mixed reactions.

Ryuzaki had emailed me a time and address the next day. I show up at the hotel at 5:30, talk to the women at the front desk for a minute, go to the floor Ryuzaki is staying on, and he meets me outside the room.

"Watari, Aizawa, Mogi, Matsuda, Ukita. Versatile, serious, silent, naïve, impulsive." He says cryptically, before opening the door for me, and silently inviting me in. I nod, accepting both his challenge and his courtesy, and walk inside. I immediately take note of the four people in the room; three men are sitting on couches around a coffee table, looking over some documents, while another, older man sits at a laptop, typing rapidly. When Ryuzaki closes the door behind us, all four of them turn to face us.

"Gentlemen," Ryuzaki says tonelessly, "this is Mirai-san. She'll be helping us with the Kira investigation."

There's a moment of silence, before the man with the afro stands up, looking unamused. "Are you serious, Ryuzaki? Quit messing around! We can't bring a civilian into this, no matter how much you like her!"

' _Hmm… What could Ryuzaki-san have meant with what he said outside? He listed five names, then five adjectives…'_

"My feelings toward Mirai-san have nothing to do with why I thought she should be on the team." Ryuzaki explains calmly, but the man isn't satisfied with it.

' _They haven't introduced themselves yet, so I can safely assume that they're not going to, therefore, they want me to guess their names…'_

"Then why is she here?" The man with kempt hair asks, before the one with the afro gets to.

' _The names Ryuzaki-san said, I can assume that they are their names, however, he listed five, but there are only four of them here, so one of them is either a fake, or they aren't here.'_ By this point, I had unknowingly gone into my thinking pose.

"She is here because of her deductive skills. Simply by hearing my alias, she determined that it was so. She had to look at the pictures for all of two seconds in order to see the hidden messages. Even now…"

' _That was all the confirmation I needed, Ryuzaki-san. Even now, this is a test. But is this meant to be simple, or more complicated?'_

"I think she could be a good addition to the team." The one with messy hair and a naïve tone says. "I mean, if Ryuzaki trusts her, I think we should too."

' _He could have reversed the adjectives to mess with me, then again, he might have expected me to think that, and left them in the correct order, or messed them up, or they could be acronyms, or… or maybe I'm just overthinking it. Gut instinct? He left them in the correct order to try and trick me. Might as well go out on a limb here.'_

"Ryuzaki, are you certain about her?" The older man asks, no longer typing. Ryuzaki nods, and the man stand up, walks over to us, and bows. "In that case, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mirai-san."

I return the bow, and say, "Likewise, Watari-san."

' _Total guess, but the first name and characteristic fit him well.'_

The man with kempt hair exclaims, "You told her our names?!"

"Not exactly." I answer for him. "You see, Ukita-san, Ryuzaki-san listed five names, then five characteristics. Based on your behaviours and my deductions, I have been able to match the names to each of you." I turn to the other two remaining members in the room. "Matsuda-san." I say, bowing to the one with messy hair. "Aizawa-san." I bow to the man with the afro, and they both stare at me in shock.

"Well, she seems to know what she's doing. But she's still a civilian!" Aizawa protests.

"Aizawa-san, I am more capable than you perceive me to be." I say, dropping my pose and cocking a hip. "Give me a riddle, any riddle, and I can solve it in less than half a minute." _'Well, that's another risk I'm taking today. Just add that to the growing list.'_

"Alright then. Try this, 'Pronounced as one letter, and written with three, two letters there are, and two only in me: I'm double, I'm single, I'm black, blue, and gray, I'm read from both ends and the same either way.'" He smiles, thinking that he's got me.

"Let's see… The answer is eye." I answer immediately.

He gapes at me momentarily, before saying, "Alright, you got that one. 'Mike is a butcher. He's about five-foot-eleven. What does he weigh?'"

"Meat." I say quickly, shift in place to make myself more comfortable, and lean against the wall. _'He seems determined. This might take a while.'_

"'A farmer has seventeen sheep, and all but nine die off. How many are left?'"

"Nine."

"'A business man pushes his car to a hotel and tells its owner that he is bankrupt. Why?'"

"They're playing monopoly."

"'Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?'" Before I can answer, he interrupts me. "The solution is not that they both weigh the same!"

I think for all of five seconds, and smirk. "Gold and feathers are weighed in different units. When converted to the same unit, feathers weigh more."

"Alright, then how about-"

"Aizawa-san, that's enough." Ryuzaki says, cutting him off. "Mirai-san will be working on this case, no matter how much you complain."

Aizawa sighs, defeated. "Fine." He walks over to me, and whispers, "'Napoleon and Josephine are found lying dead in a puddle of water. The only other noticeable thing about the room is that the window is open, and the curtains are flapping in the breeze. How did they die?'"

I smile, and whisper back, "They're both fish. There was a storm that tipped their fishbowl over, and onto the floor."

He smiles genuinely. "Welcome to the team, Mirai-san."

I smile back, and make my way over to Matsuda and Ukita at the coffee table, where I pick up a file.

"Naomi Misora? Who's she?" I ask, playing innocent.

"She was Raye Penber's fiancée, and he was one of twelve FBI agents sent to Japan to help us in the investigation." Matsuda explains to me. "The day after the FBI agents were killed, she vanished."

"I-I see." I say, well-faked sympathy on my expression.

"Regarding her disappearance, shouldn't we open an investigation into this matter?" Ukita asks Ryuzaki as we all sit down around the coffee table.

"If we do, it should be coordinated separately from the Kira case. Also, we'll have to use police sketches instead of photos." Ryuzaki says, sitting as he usually does.

"We're talking about someone who's been missing for four months already. Chances are she's probably dead." Aizawa says, being the voice of reason.

"If you're right about that, then I find it odd that we haven't found her body yet. If we did, it may provide us with some much needed physical evidence." Ryuzaki concludes, before Watari comes back in.

"Ryuzaki," He says, a hint of desperation in his tone, "something seems to be happening, on Sakura TV."

I narrow my eyes in confusion, grab the remote, and turn on the TV in the room, changing it to channel 48.

"-in other words, all of the reporters and staff here are Kira's hostages." Three reporters had appeared on screen, and the one in the middle was talking. "Aside from that, we have a professional obligation to share this message with you. I assure you, this is not a hoax, and that Sakura TV is not airing this tape for the purposes of sensationalism." _'Light-kun, did you plan this without me? Do you no longer trust me? What do you hope to achieve by this?'_ I think, tensing.

"Kira's hostages?" Aizawa voices, obviously just as confused as me.

"What is this?" Matsuda asks, a question that not even I can answer.

"Four days ago," The reporter continues, "our program director here at Sakura TV received four tapes. After a thorough examination, there can be no doubt that they are from Kira himself."

' _Light-kun… No, wait, this isn't his style. There's no way that he would try to draw attention to himself, there's no need. That means it wasn't him, so someone else is trying to pose as Kira. Ha! Nice try. It's likely that L-san will come to this conclusion himself, so I shouldn't voice my thoughts until he does.'_

The image switches to a still image of a cassette tape. "The first tape we received contained a prediction, regarding the time of death of two suspected criminals who had recently been arrested." The reporter continues. "And as predicted, at the exact time that Kira had specified, both men died suddenly of heart attacks yesterday."

' _It certainly sounds like the Death Note… Could someone else have found one?'_

The image changes to another cassette tape. "Kira has instructed us to air the second tape at exactly 5:59 PM, and we do intend to comply with his demands." The image switched back to the three reporters. "This tape should offer proof of his powers by predicting yet another death. Beyond that, we understand that it contains a message to all the people of the world, from Kira."

Aizawa, Matsuda, and Ukita all gasp, and Ukita suggests, "This-this has to be another fake, don't you think?"

"I doubt it." Matsuda says, sounding defeated. "I'm pretty sure even Sakura TV wouldn't stoop that low."

The reporter says one last line, "And now, the video."

The image switches to a white screen, with the word "KIRA" in large, black letters. There are several seconds of pure and total silence, before a heavily distorted voice clears its throat, and says, "I am Kira. If this video is being aired on the eighteenth, at exactly 5:59 PM as I requested, then the time now is 5:59 forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine… Please change the channel to Taiyo TV. The news anchor Mr. Kazuhiko Hibima will die of a heart attack at exactly six o clock." Everyone in the room gasps, including me.

"Change it!" Ryuzaki says, anxiety in his voice. I change it to channel 36, where the reporter sits collapsed in his chair, head leaning over the back limply.

We all gasp again, and Matsuda cries, "It can't be!" People rush onto the screen to try and shake the reporter awake, quickly telling the cameraman to kill the cameras.

"How could he?" Ukita spits in disgust and hatred.

"Change the channel back." Ryuzaki tells me, his voice tense and nervous. "And I need you to bring us another TV, Watari. No, make it two." Watari goes to get them.

Back on Sakura TV, the Kira voice starts talking again. "This is punishment. I will present you with another victim, my next target is: NHN TV commentator Mr. Seiji Komaizumi, who's scheduled to appear in a live broadcast. He too has dared to defy Kira."

"Kira would kill someone just because they defy him? This guy is disgusting." I voice, hatred lacing my tone, letting the others take it as they will.

"Ryuzaki?" Matsuda asks tentatively.

"Change it to channel twenty-four!" He says, the anxiety becoming more evident as time passes. I do so, revealing three TV commentators, the one on the left having collapsed, with many people rushing around. "Please change it back." Ryuzaki says calmly, as if he's given up.

Now worried, I change it back. The distorted voice continues. "Now that you've seen proof of my powers, you should have no trouble believing that I am Kira."

A realization seems to come over Ryuzaki, and he shouts, "Stop this broadcast! We can't let him finish!"

My train of thought follows after Ryuzaki's and comes to the same, if not a similar conclusion. _'This fake Kira is using this broadcast to gain notoriety and more followers. Their message has been made clear: Follow me, or die. Well, you thought you could be part of Kira? I'll have to catch you and prove you wrong, then.'_

The others all grab their phones, dialing numbers. Matsuda calls, "Get Sakura TV on the line!"

"It's no good!" Aizawa groans in annoyance. "I'm trying, but none of my contacts at the station have their phones on."

"And nobody's picking up at reception, either!" Matsuda adds.

Ukita groans, and runs for the door. "Damn it!"

Matsuda drops what he's doing, and cries, "Ukita!"

Ukita reaches the door, and promises, "I'll stop this broadcast myself if that's what it takes!" before he opens the door, and runs out.

"People of the world, please listen to me." My attention snaps back to the TV, and the distorted voice of the fake Kira. "The last thing I want to do is kill the innocent. I hate evil, and love justice. I've always thought of the police as allies, not as enemies." I glance over to Ryuzaki, who is watching the screen with determination and hatred, all the while biting his thumb. "I intend to create a new world, a perfect world that is free from evil." The voice continues in its monologue. "If you agree to join me in my mission, I know we can make it happen, and as long as no one tried to catch me, I promise that the innocent will not die."

' _The whole world is your hostage, huh? You disgust me. We wanted to bring about a perfect world peacefully, but no, you had to come in and turn this into a hostage situation. When I get my hands on you, I'll kill you with my own two hands if I have to!'_ I silently rant to myself, unknowingly clenching my hands.

"Even if you don't agree with me, all I ask is that you not publicize your views in the media. If you can do that, you will be spared. All you have to do now is be patient; I'll create a better world that we can all enjoy. Say good-bye to the world as you know it; soon we'll have a new world brought by benevolence, and inhabited by kind-hearted, honest people. Try to imagine it. A world where the police and I would work together, creating a paradise of peace and harmony."

I stop paying attention at this point, as the voice keeps repeating the same message. _'You're trying too hard to be like Kira, it's obvious to anyone who's paying attention that you aren't. We, as Kira, would never be so foolish as to put ourselves out there like this.'_

I'm interrupted from my thoughts as Watari comes back in, holding another two TVs. I rush over to him, taking one, and he nods his thanks. We set them up silently, connecting them to the channels that Ryuzaki wants them set to.

I stand back and out of Ryuzaki's way, and look around the room. Watari has gone back to typing, Ryuzaki is watching the screens intently, and Aizawa and Matsuda are fervently trying to get through to Sakura TV. I rejoin Ryuzaki, and watch the screens.

The middle screen, one of the ones that Watari had just brought in, catches my eye, as it is showing the doors to Sakura TV's station. I see Ukita's car drift in, quickly stopping before the doors. I see him jump out of the car, and run to the doors, then pound on them. Ukita then steps back, holding his gun, and points it at the doors. I fully expect him to shoot, but he freezes. I lean closer to the TV, and see that he's tensed immensely. The gun falls from his hands, and he drops to his knees, before collapsing completely.

"We're bringing this to you live, from in front of Sakura TV Studios." I hear the announcer say. I gasp loudly, and cover my mouth with my hands. _'How? How could he have killed Ukita-san without his name? I mean, it's obvious that he's using the Death Note, but does he not need a name? Does he only need a face? If that's the case, then how would one go about writing down the name? No, the name is a requirement for the Death Note, is it possible they got the task force's names already? Or if they don't, did they…'_ I trail off, even in my thoughts, still caught in the horror of knowing that someone I knew, a good person, is dead.

My gasp apparently catches Matsuda's attention. "Aizawa, look!" I hear Aizawa gasp from behind me. We all freeze, looking in disbelief at the screen.

"As you can see, someone has collapsed just outside the door!" The announcer says. "Again, we're coming to you live from the Sakura TV building!"

"Ukita…" Matsuda mutters, pain evident in his voice. "Damn it, Kira did this…" Aizawa turns, and starts to walk to the door.

"Aizawa-san!" Ryuzaki calls, trying to stop him. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" He calls back. "I've gotta go there!"

"You can't." Ryuzaki demands, turning around in his chair. "Please, think about this rationally." I finally let my hands drop to my lap, where they fold together tightly.

"What, you want me to just sit here and watch TV?!" Aizawa yells, the tension starting to get to him.

"If this truly is the work of Kira, you'll just meet the same fate if you go there." Ryuzaki pleads.

Aizawa turns around to face Ryuzaki. "You told us that Kira couldn't kill without a name! So how could this happen?!"

Matsuda walks over to Ryuzaki. "The aliases and fake police IDs were worthless! What are gonna do, L? You don't think Kira has all our names already, do you?"

"It's a definite possibility." Ryuzaki admits, after a short pause. "However, if that's the case, you'd think it'd be easier to kill off the entire task force before making a move. Initially, I deduced that Kira needed both a name and a face to kill, but from what we've just seen…"

I continue for him. "It's possible that Kira just needs a face to kill. Could he have needed both before? If that's the case, then he could be learning, advancing his powers to the point where he no longer needs a name…" I trail off, and Ryuzaki nods to me. _'I'll ask Light-kun and Ryuk about this, maybe they'll know something about it.'_

He continues. "All I know for sure is that Kira is either in that TV station, or he's somewhere close by; in a place where he can watch everyone who enters the building. Perhaps, he's in-"

Aizawa interrupts him, yelling. "If Kira's in the area, then isn't that why we should get down there?!"

Ryuzaki responds hesitantly. "For all we know, he could have just placed surveillance cameras in the area. If we rush down there, unprepared, all of us could be killed-"

"Wasn't it you who said we'd have to risk our lives to catch Kira?!" Aizawa interrupts him again, grabbing Ryuzaki by the shoulder and lifting him a few inches.

"I meant what I said, but, risking my life to catch Kira and doing something that I know will cost me my life are two entirely different things." Ryuzaki reasons, fear and trepidation filling his tone.

"Oh yeah?!" Aizawa rages, before pausing. I look from him to Ryuzaki, and my eyes widen marginally. He's shaking. L, the world's greatest detective, is scared.

"Please control yourself." He says, his voice shaking. "We've lost Ukita… And I understand you want to go there, but if something was to happen to you as well…"

I look down at my hands, with my eyebrows furrowed and a frown on my face, as I think over the severity of the situation. _'This is bad. This guy is willing to kill anyone under Kira's name, not even thinking about the retributions. Not to mention, he doesn't even need a name in order to kill. Though, there's no doubt that this guy has a Death Note. So, either he knows the task force's names, or…'_ My eyes widen again in realization. _'He can see everyone's names. Is that even possible? If he can, that means that I can't let myself be seen by him. If I do, then he might recognize me from the task force and kill me, then Kira will lose their backup killer, and the police would never know. This is really, really bad…'_

"I now await a response from the police." The fake Kira says, and I turn to the screens again. "They must decide whether or not they'll help me create a better world for all of us. Please announce your decision on the six o clock news in four days. I've prepared two videos, one to be aired if the answer is yes, and another if the answer is no."

My attention is caught again by the middle screen, where a hospital ambulance plows through the front doors. "A vehicle has just driven through the front doors of the station!" The announcer explains for the blind.

Ryuzaki, Matsuda, Aizawa, and I all stare at the screen in mild shock. "Well, that's one way to get into the building without being seen by Kira." Ryuzaki comments, and I silence a snicker that threatens to rise.

"But, who would…?" Aizawa asks, dumbfounded.

I assume my thinking pose. _'Well, they drove with passion, and little-to-no care, as if they had to get there quickly, the vehicle wasn't theirs, nor were they responsible for it. And it was an ambulance…'_

My eyes widen at my conclusion, and I state confidently, "Mr. Yagami."

The others all look at me, and Ryuzaki asks, "Do you think so?"

"The driver was urgent to get inside as quickly as possible. Therefore, they are connected to the case in some way. Second, the vehicle they drove was an ambulance, meaning they came from a hospital. So yes, I believe my conclusion is sound." I explain.

"I see." He returns to looking at the screens, but Matsuda and Aizawa keep looking at me.

After a couple minutes, I break. "What?"

"You two even think the same way. It's almost scary." Matsuda admits, and I roll my eyes.

Turning my attention back to the TVs, the announcer for the middle screen says, "We're still outside Sakura TV! As you can see, a police car has just arrived!"

"So, we're not alone." Matsuda concludes. "There are still other officers out there who are willing to stand up to Kira."

"Aizawa-san." Ryuzaki says, suddenly. "You know Deputy Director Kitamura's cell phone number, right?"

"Uh, yeah." He pulls out his phone, dials a number, and hands the phone to Ryuzaki.

A few seconds pass, before he says, "This is L. There's something I need you to do for me. There may be officers who will see this broadcast and feel moved to take action in the name of justice. If you don't take control of the situation quickly, there will be a disaster."

Another few seconds pass, before my attention is caught by the screens again. "Another two police officers have collapsed on the sidewalk. I think we may be in danger, we're moving away from the scene!"

Several minutes later, Watari's phone rings, and he announces, "Director Superintendent Yagami."

Ryuzaki lifts his hand to receive the phone. "Call him back immediately and give me the phone!"

Ryuzaki grabs the phone, and holds it to his ear in his odd way of holding it by the edges, as if trying to hold it at a distance. "Yes, it's me." He says after a moment. "Mr. Yagami. So, you're the one driving the ambulance." Aizawa and Matsuda look at me incredulously, as if they couldn't believe that I had guessed it correctly. "But what about your condition, are you alright?... Please hold the line for a second." He lowers Watari's phone and raises Aizawa's. "Deputy Director Kitamura. It was Chief Yagami who just drove into the building. Are your preparations complete?" He lowers Aizawa's and raises Watari's. "Yagami-san, listen carefully. In exactly five minutes, I want you to just come out the front entrance." He hangs up both phones, and looks at me. I nod, a gesture which he returns.

Five minutes later, one of the TV news anchors announces, "There you have it. The police refuse to cooperate with Kira. Instead, they are preparing to fight. And, as much as I fear for my own life in saying so, this is right. And it must be done! Kira has become a threat to our very constitution, and as citizens, we must fight back! I am NHN's golden news anchor, Kouki Tanakabara."

Another few minutes later, the door opens and closes, catching the attention of the four of us. I turn to the door, and see Mr. Yagami being supported by Watari.

"Chief Yagami!" Matsuda exclaims, happy to see him.

"Welcome back, chief." Aizawa adds, less enthusiastically.

"Ryuzaki, I apologise for taking matters into my own hands." Mr. Yagami apologises. "I have to admit, I got a little bit carried away." The three men walk toward him, and he holds out the bag that he carries. "Here, everything that Kira sent to the station is in here."

"I can't thank you enough." Ryuzaki says gently, taking the bag from him.

Watari walks Mr. Yagami over to one of the nearest couches, as Mr. Yagami says, "I think I'd better rest for a minute."

I walk over to him and ask, "Mr. Yagami, shouldn't you have gone back to the hospital? You're not fully recovered." My voice full of concern, this time real.

He looks up at me in shock. "Miss Tsukino? Why are you here?"

I sit down across from him. "Ryuzaki-san found my deductive skills useful, and asked me to work on the Kira investigation with you."

"Aizawa-san." Ryuzaki calls out, and I turn my attention towards them, "can you please take this to the crime lab right away?" He hands the bag over to Aizawa.

He takes the bag in both hands. "I still have some friends down there, I'll make sure they go over every inch of this."

Ryuzaki nods. "That's good, please do so. While you're doing that, Mirai-san and I will watch these tapes to see if they can tell us anything." He looks over to me, and I stand up.

"Sounds good to me." I agree, before thinking to myself, _'This will give me a chance to see whether or not this was from an imposter. Light-kun, I still doubt you'd do something like this, so I believe that I am safe in my reasoning.'_ I quickly text my parents, telling them that I'm staying overnight with a friend, and pray that they buy it.

Ryuzaki and I then settle down in front of the TVs, and we put in the first tape.

The next morning, we finish going over the fourth tape for the last time, having pulled an all-nighter. I rub my eyes as the door opens, and the others come in.

"So, what do you make of these?" Mr. Yagami inquires, and I stifle a yawn.

Ryuzaki turns around in his chair. "They were definitely interesting."

"You can say that again." I add, cracking my knuckles, before continuing. "Had the police agreed to work with Kira, tape three should have been aired, tape four if the answer was no."

Ryuzaki continues for me. "Tape three covers the terms of cooperation. Quite simply, he's asking that we broadcast the names of more criminals. He seems particularly interested in those who have committed assault or otherwise taken advantage of the weak and defenseless. Of course, Kira would play the role of judge, nonetheless. Furthermore, as proof that the police are willing to cooperate, he wants police officials and L to appear on TV, to make a public announcement that we plan to cooperate with him. He needs us to reveal our faces, that way, he can kill us if the police do anything suspicious. In other words, he'd hold our lives as insurance."

"I see." Mr. Yagami says, "So what about the content of the fourth video, if we were to answer no?"

I answer. "It was worded differently, but the message was more or less the same. Air more criminals' identities, broadcast our faces, et cetera."

"Yagami-san, it should go without saying that the answer is no." Ryuzaki declares. "Have someone take tape number four over to Sakura TV, and authorize them to broadcast it." He lifts the remote, and ejects the tape.

A few hours later, they air the tape.

"I can only say, it's a shame that your answer is no." The tape recites. "It's clear that the police wish to oppose me, this will not go unpunished. So, I'll start by either taking the life of the Director General of the NPA, or the detective known as L who is currently leading the investigation against me. The Director General, or L. Who will pay the price for your refusal to cooperate in the creation of a peaceful world? You have four days to decide."

After the message is aired, I decide to head home and get some much-needed sleep. I'm about to call a cab, but Ryuzaki grabs my phone from me first. "That won't be necessary." He explains. "Watari will drive you home."

I nod my thanks, and leave with Watari. The ride home is silent until the end, when Watari asks me, "You don't seem surprised that I know where you live."

I shrug. "You seem to work for Ryuzaki-san, and he seems to know everything. I figured that he merely passed the information along to you."

He nods, and I get out of the car, and walk inside, not bothering to wave as he drives away. I avoid my parents, and crash on my bed.

The next day, I go back to the same hotel, and join the others. Watari brings in tea and cake for our meeting, and we discuss the entirety of the case, to see if there's anything we might have missed.

Another couple hours later, Mr. Yagami comes back, having gone to see what the other countries had decided on. "Ryuzaki, I'm afraid it's as you thought. Several of our member countries have weighed in, and it appears that they are in favour of having the real L appear on TV."

Ryuzaki calmly takes another sip of his tea. "I think that's the most appropriate choice, given the options. Well, we still have three days before it happens. Maybe we can find some counter-measure. After all this, it would really annoy me," He takes a bite of cake, and continues talking, "if I'm killed by the first person to jump on the Kira bandwagon." The others seem astonished by this fact.

"Ryuzaki, what do you mean by that?" Mr. Yagami asks, a hint of desperation in his tone.

"It means that there is a very strong possibility that this Kira is a fake." I answer. "Or, at the very least, not the original Kira, but they still have his powers. Like a second Kira."

"A second Kira?" Mr. Yagami echoes in dismay.

"I-I don't understand." Aizawa asks. "Why do you think there's a copycat? How did you two come to that conclusion?"

"We looked at the victims he used for his predictions in tape number one." Ryuzaki explains. "Their purpose was to prove to Sakura TV's staff that he is Kira. Both their names were only reported in tabloids and daytime talk shows, so they weren't exactly hardened criminals." He leans forward and starts playing with the strawberry on his plate. "The real Kira has no need to prove himself using such insignificant criminals, but from the perspective of the second Kira," He finally spears said strawberry and eats it, then continues to talk with his mouth full, "he wanted to make absolutely certain that he didn't predict the death of a criminal who could be killed by the real Kira first."

Mr. Yagami asks, "Ryuzaki, if you had to put a number on it, what's the probability of a second Kira?"

He adds a sugar cube to his tea. "This time, I'd say it's more than seventy percent." The other three men gasp at this. "And I really don't like the way he operates. It's not like Kira."

"Not like him?" Matsuda asks.

"Kira has traditionally avoided killing innocents in the past," I explain, and their attention turns to me, "with the exception of those who were trying to catch him. This Kira has no qualms about killing innocents, or people with very minor criminal records."

"Anyway," Ryuzaki continues, "if we can capture one Kira, I think it will provide us with a lot of insight into how we can find the other one." He turns to Mr. Yagami. "Yagami-san, I'd like your permission to ask your son to cooperate with us on this investigation."

Aizawa and Matsuda look at each other in confusion, and Mr. Yagami straightens. "If you want my son to join the task force, does this mean that you no longer suspect him?"

"Well, I can't say that he's been completely cleared, but his deductive abilities would be invaluable to us right now." Ryuzaki explains.

Mr. Yagami looks down, obviously disappointed, before looking up again. "If my son wants to cooperate with you, I have no reason to prevent it."

"I appreciate that." Ryuzaki thanks, "However, please don't tell him that we think this latest Kira might be a fake. I don't want him to know that yet. We want to make it appear to him that we're still chasing the same Kira."

"Is this another test for his deductive skills, like when you gave me the names?" I ask, innocently enough.

"In a way, yes." He admits, but I catch his undertone.

' _This is your way of trying to get him to mess up and confess, isn't it? Nice try, but Light-kun is too smart to fall for that.'_

I lean back in my chair, and think. _'Still, what Matsuda said a couple days ago, about Ryuzaki-san and I thinking the same way… When I think about it, it actually rings true. Intriguing…'_

 **Well. This turned out… longer… than I expected. I thought I'd have to combine Assault and Love in order to meet my word count, but noooooooo, Assault alone turned out to be over five-thousand words. I ain't willing to make a monster chapter just yet, and besides, Love and Confession go together better.**

 **So, as evidenced here, no, Mirai will not take Misa's place. I hate Misa too much to omit her from this, because if I did, I couldn't torture her. Also, Mirai is still unaware of the Shinigami eyes, as Ryuk only told Light, late at night, on a day where she hadn't been with them. So, hopefully she'll know next chapter or so.**

 **Also, as I'll be without an internet connection next Friday, I'm afraid that the next update will be either on Saturday or Sunday of next week, but it will resume the usual schedule of an update every Friday after that. Hopefully.**

 **I'll see you lot on the other side!**


	8. Love and Confession

"Well then," Ryuzaki says, continuing the conversation, "we need to ask Light Yagami-kun to assist us, however, we cannot tell him that we are considering the possibility of a second Kira."

"Are you serious?" Matsuda asks, leaning forward. "But wouldn't that make working together a bit difficult?"

"He's right." Aizawa agrees. "Why even bother asking him to work with us?"

"Well, I didn't mean indefinitely." Ryuzaki explains, before leaning forward to pick up one of the tapes. "And I'm curious to see what his impression of these tapes will be, prior to knowing ours. Light-kun's deductive reasoning is really quite incredible. He may suspect that these tapes are the work of a second Kira, an imposter, or a copycat imitating the original."

Matsuda leans forward to ask, "But the basis for the second Kira theory is that the victims from the recent killings are minor criminals who don't fit the normal profile. Without hearing our explanation, how would Light-san know that?"

"Yes, but there's more to it than that." Ryuzaki says, letting his voice fluctuate in pitch. "The suspect that we've been pursuing up until now has needed both a name and a face to kill his victims, but there is something different happening here."

I take over. "Recall that Ukita-san was killed the moment he arrived at the station, and this Kira demanded that Ryuzaki-san only appear on TV, but made no request for his name. That implies that this Kira only needs a person's face to kill them."

Ryuzaki picks up from there. "So, I'll ask Light-kun to look over all of our information, as well as our video evidence. If he comes to the conclusion that there could be a second suspect, he'd be almost completely cleared of suspicion in this case."

Mr. Yagami leans toward him, most likely in confusion. "But how will that prove anything?"

Ryuzaki pauses for a moment, before answering. "Logically, if he's really Kira, he'll want me dead, seeing as how I'm leading the investigation against him right now. And the way things are going, if I comply with this subject's demands and appear on TV in three days, there's a very good chance I will die. I can't see Kira jeopardising such an easy opportunity to get rid of me."

"Okay, but are you suggesting that if my son does not come up to the same conclusion, there's an even greater chance that he is guilty?" Mr. Yagami asks.

"No." Ryuzaki responds. "In that case, there will still only be a five percent chance, we'll inform him that we are investigating the possibility of a copycat, and have him cooperate with us as planned."

Mr. Yagami nods, before excusing himself and pulling out his phone. He dials in a number, and waits a moment before speaking. "Light, Ryuzaki-san has decided that he'd like you to help with the investigation. If you're still interested, then you need to come here right away." He listens for another moment before hanging up, and he turns to us. "He's on his way."

"Thank you." Ryuzaki says, and Mr. Yagami sits back down. Around twenty minutes later, someone knocks on the door, and Light comes in.

Ryuzaki stands and walks over to greet him, shaking his hand. "Thank you, Light-kun."

Light smiles politely, faking it the entire time. "Not at all. After all, I want to catch Kira as much as you do, Ryuga-kun."

Ryuzaki looks at him in the eye. "I'll have to ask that you call me Ryuzaki here." Light raises an eyebrow, but nods and accepts it.

They turn to us, and we introduce our aliases.

"I'm Matsui!" Matsuda starts.

"I'm Aihara." Aizawa adds.

"I'm Asahi." Mr. Yagami continues.

"And I'm Kiyohime." I complete, before I realize what I said. _'Wait, what? No, I meant to say Midori, what the hell came over me? But, it just felt so natural to say that name… Where have I heard it before?'_

Ryuzaki and Light both raise eyebrows at my choice of alias, but say nothing on the matter. "Yes, of course." Light says to us, before turning to Ryuzaki. "Then perhaps I should call myself 'Light Asahi'?"

"Yes, please do." Ryuzaki agrees in response. "To keep things simple from this point on, I'll call you Light." Once Light nods, Ryuzaki begins his explanation. "Okay, let's get down to work. You can start by looking over all the information we've collected. I'd also like you to examine these videos." He walks over to the TV, and Light follows him. "They were sent to the TV station, but were never aired. For security reasons, you're not permitted to take notes, and all materials must remain here."

Light sits down, and agrees. "I understand."

Ryuzaki picks up the remote, and turns on the TV, playing the tape inside. "We will begin now."

I lean on the wall, watching Light watch the tapes. I see his jaw clench slightly, and his stare harden. _'It seems he didn't make the videos. As I assumed, though it does make me worry about who on earth would be so stupid as to do so.'_

' _While we're on the topic of stupidity, what the hell was I thinking earlier? Kiyohime? How could one confuse Midori for Kiyohime? It just slipped out, but it rolled off of my tongue so easily, not to mention its familiarity… Where have I heard it? Damn, this is going to bother me for a while.'_

When I finally slip back into reality, I look up and realize that the tape just finished. "So, what do you make of this, Light-kun? Have you come to any conclusions?" Ryuzaki asks him, and I can see Light cursing him for asking.

Light stands from the chair. "It's hard to say for sure, but there might be another person out there with Kira's power."

Mr. Yagami steps forward, unbelieving. "What? With Kira's power? But what do you mean by that, Light?"

"At the very least, I'd say this tape was not created by the Kira that we're familiar with." Light clarifies, indicating the tapes with his hand. "It's extremely out of character for him to use these kinds of victims in his killings. And, since we've established that he needs a name and face to kill, it makes you wonder how he was able to kill that detective and those two officers right outside the television station like that."

Aizawa, Matsuda, and Mr. Yagami look between Light, Ryuzaki, and I with varying degrees of wonder, awe, and shock.

"I-it's the same." Aizawa stutters out.

"T-that's almost exactly how Ryuzaki-san and M- I mean, Kiyohime-san said it." Matsuda says, barely remembering my alias. Mr. Yagami looks at his son happily, most likely hoping for this to have cleared his name.

"I think you're exactly right about that." Ryuzaki says in mild awe. "We also believe that this is the work of a second Kira."

Light looks at Ryuzaki in indignation. "So you knew about this all along Ryuga-sorry, Ryuzaki?" He crosses his arms. "Which mean that this was just another one of your tests?"

"It wasn't my intention to test you." Ryuzaki defends. "The truth is, Kiyohime-san and I required a second party to confirm our suspicions, to ensure that our conclusion was sound. If we were the only ones who believed in a second Kira, it wouldn't be too convincing. But the fact that we all came to the same conclusion makes the theory that much more believable. As expected, you did not disappoint us. You've been a great help." He angles his head down a few degrees, keeping his eyes on Light. "It's decided then. First, we must focus on stopping this copycat. From what we've seen, he sympathises with the real Kira, but clearly lacks his sophistication. I think he might even be willing to obey the original."

I pick up on his train of thought, and continue for him. "If that's the case, we could lure him into a trap by sending our own message from the 'real' Kira."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Light admits. "You two literally took the words right out of my mouth."

"Oh, and Light-kun," Ryuzaki adds. "I would like you to play the part of the 'real' Kira."

Light's eyes widen in surprise. "Huh? Me? As Kira?"

Ryuzaki begins to talk rather quickly. "Yes, you're the only one I'd be able to think of who could pull something like this off. At any rate, we don't have time to waste. Do you think you could script a message from Kira in time for it to be aired on this evening's national news?"

Ryuk begins laughing from his vantage point behind Light, as Light himself glares at Ryuzaki.

About an hour later, Light gives a piece of paper he'd been working on to Ryuzaki. "Ryuzaki, does this look okay? I think I managed to make it believable."

"I think you've done an excellent job with this." Ryuzaki compliments, before lowering the page from his face. "However, if we don't omit the part that says 'you are free to kill L', then I'm gonna end up dead."

Light laughs good-heartedly. "Sorry, I guess I got carried away playing the part. I figured if I was him, I'd probably demand that you be killed. I was improvising, feel free to change it to whatever you like."

"Hmm… Sounds good." Ryuzaki agrees, before handing it over to Aizawa. "Aihara-san, the script is ready, so I'll leave it to you."

A recording session and four hours later, Sakura TV airs the tape.

"And now, a shocking announcement." The news anchor says. "In response to the frightening Kira video aired on Sakura TV only a few days ago, an anonymous individual has contacted us, claiming to be the real Kira. In short, he has demanded of this network, as well as several others, that we air the message you are now about to see. I would also like to mention that the NPA has granted us permission to air this video. Is this the real Kira? No one knows for sure, but we can only hope that this video provides us with some much needed answers."

The screen switches from his face to a, for some reason, gold and sparkly screen with KIRA in large, cursive print.

"I am Kira." A distorted voice says, with the same voice filters Ryuzaki uses to become L. "The true Kira. The one who was broadcast on Sakura TV several days ago is a pretender, a fake. The purpose of this message is to communicate my will to this imposter. I have chosen to be lenient with him for the time being, only because I believe he wishes to cooperate with me in the creation of a new world. But I want to make it absolutely clear that the taking of innocent lives is against my will. If this person claiming to be me is truly sympathetic to my cause and wishes to be of some help, I ask two things of him. That he refrain from killing aimlessly, and that he agree to abide by my basic principles."

I turn to Ryuzaki, and ask, "So, what now?"

He looks at me out of the corner of his eye. "Now, we wait."

Several days later, Watari informs us of the response. "Ryuzaki, we have a reply from the second Kira." This catches everyone's attention, and we all turn to the computer Watari was speaking to us through. "I'll be bringing over the envelope and tapes we received, but in the meantime, I'm streaming a copy of the video so you can view it on your end."

We all gather around the laptop, before the screen switches from Watari's signature W to the black KIRA signature adopted by the imposter. "Kira, thank you for your reply." The distorted voice says. "Please do not worry, I will follow orders, and do as you say."

"It worked." I hear the others say incredulously. I glance over to Light, who developed a hardened look in his eye, and I can't help but agree. _'This idiot! Believing anyone who claims to be Kira to actually be him! He'll be no help at all. Does he even know what we as Kira desire?'_

"I really want to meet you." The voice continues, before it pauses, and admits, "I don't think you have the eyes." I raise an eyebrow at this, before turning to Light and seeing him tense, pale, and worried. He looks back at me. _'It seems he knows what this moron is talking about. I'll have to ask him about that later.'_ "But you don't have to worry, I would never try to kill you, that's a promise."

"What's this 'having the eyes' supposed to mean? Is it a code?" Aizawa asks, clearly as confused as I am, along with everyone else. I look at Ryuzaki, only to see him entirely tensed and shaking, almost hyperventilating.

"Please tell me how I can meet you without the police knowing." The imposter continues. "You'll think of something. When we meet, we can confirm our identities by showing our Shinigami to each other." _'What the hell?! Who does he think he is, revealing the existence of Shinigami on a public broadcast?!'_ I'm slapped out of my thoughts by Ryuzaki's panicked gasp.

"Shinigami?!" The others gasp out, but my eyes remain on Ryuzaki, who throws his hands in the air and begins to scream.

In doing so, he knocks his chair over and falls to the floor. I slide purposefully to the floor next to him, kneeling beside his head, as I ask, "Ryuzaki, are you alright? What's wrong?"

He sits up slowly, still looking horrified at the laptop screen. "Shinigami…" He mutters. "Am I supposed to believe that? That Shinigami actually exist?" The tape, having finished, leaves the screen as a bunch of static.

"That's impossible!" Matsuda exclaims.

"Obviously, they don't exist." Aizawa reassures.

"Oc course they don't, Ryuzaki-san, get a hold of yourself!" I say trying to get him back to normal. _'He might be the enemy, but it would be no fun at all if he became mentally unstable and made things easy.'_

"That's right, Ryuzaki." Light agrees. "Listen to yourself, of course Shinigami don't exist!"

Ryuzaki shakily turns to me and looks me dead in the eye. "You're probably right, but I remember that Kira had those prisoners write something suggesting the existence of Shinigami."

"So, based on that fact," Mr. Yagami suggests, "perhaps we're dealing with the same person, after all. It would definitely explain why we're hearing the same words."

We all turn to look at him, and Light counters his father's suggestion. "I don't think so, because, if this was the same person, it's highly unlikely he would have responded to our video in the first place. And why would he agree to let L live after all of the trouble of getting him to appear on TV?" I see Ryuzaki visibly calm as Light continues. "The real Kira wants him dead, so it doesn't make sense."

"Well, maybe there's some other connection between the real one and this fake guy." Aizawa thinks out loud. "They could have already met, and decided to use the word 'Shinigami' as a way to confuse us."

"No, I'd say that's unlikely." Ryuzaki reasons, and we all turn back to him as he picks up the chair he'd knocked over. "It's as Light-kun says. If the two Kiras were connected, I don't think the imposter would be so willing to give up on his plan to kill me." He sits down in the chair in his usual slouch, and I go to stand next to Light. "All of this suggests to me that the copycat has his own agenda, and is acting independently of the first. I believe his actual motivation is to meet the original."

"I think you're right." Light agrees after a moment of silence. "He's acting out of an interest in Kira. The word Shinigami could very well be some reference to their killing power. Saying, 'We can confirm our identities by showing our Shinigami to each other' probably means that they'd confirm their identities to each other by somehow demonstrating their ability to kill."

"Yes, that's it." Ryuzaki agrees, back to his old self. "Based on their messages, we can assume that the word 'Shinigami' must hold some other meaning that only the real Kira and the second Kira are aware of. Now, we just need to convince this copycat to tell us what that is."

"So will you respond and force him to be more specific? We have to be careful of how we handle this. We can't make it too obvious that we're asking, otherwise, he'll realize that we're not Kira."

"No, from now on, it's best that we leave it up to the two Kiras." Ryuzaki decides, confusing the others.

"What do you mean?" Aizawa voices the question they were thinking.

"I imagine that the second Kira is probably quite satisfied with the current situation, now that he's received a televised response. He sent a message to get Kira's attention, and as far as he knows, he now has it. Also, there's that word he used," Ryuzaki answers, avoiding saying 'Shinigami', "one that only the two of them would understand. We'll arrange to have this reply broadcast today on Sakura six o clock news. Naturally, this will be of interest to Kira, and he'll be following the exchange between the copycat and the one we've invented. Now, if I were Kira himself, my priority would be to prevent this imposter from coming into contact with the police. This is good for us, because it means that the real Kira may feel pressured to respond this time."

"Okay, let's say that he doesn't respond." Aizawa suggests. "Then what do we do?"

Ryuzaki begins to tap his fingers. "Yes, I've been thinking about what the second Kira would do if he gets no response. For one, he might reveal more information that he knows Kira once kept secret to pressure him into a meeting, of course, that would make Kira nervous." He looks up from his knees and smiles. "It could be interesting. And what would be more interesting is if Kira sent a message of his own to prevent this from happening. Ideally, this could provide us with the physical evidence we'll need to build a case against him. In the meantime, let's gather all the information we can on this copycat."

I nod, and sit down to get to work.

Several days later, as I'm walking home from the campus, I get a call from Watari. "Kiyohime-san, we have another response from the second Kira. It was sent to Sakura TV, but we managed to intercept it. It appears to be a video and a journal this time."

I immediately change direction, and make my way to our new headquarters. "I'm on my way." I tell him, before hanging up, and texting my parents to tell them that I'd be hanging out with a friend.

I walk into the hotel suite moments after Light, and I hear him ask, "So, he wanted the journal shown on TV?"

"Yes, this is it." Mr. Yagami hands Light a page of journal paper, and I walk up beside him to read it over his shoulder. _'2006? These are from last year, why would he send Sakura TV this? Wait, I can't judge just yet, the idiot might have done some kind of code, if he's intelligent enough to do so.'_

"Please take a look at the entry he made on the thirtieth." Ryuzaki says to us, and we both follow along.

'" _Confirmed our Shinigami at the Tokyo dome." This might be literal, and mean that he wants to meet Kira on May thirtieth, or it could be more cryptic, and he might have done that to throw off the police from the real meetup. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he was so stupid that he intends to meet Kira on the thirtieth, but I can't underestimate anyone, not even this moronic wannabe.'_

The entry for the twenty-second catches my eye. _'"My friend and I showed off our notebooks in Aoyama." So, this moron isn't as entirely stupid as I thought. That wouldn't catch the attention of too many people. Hopefully I'm not reading too much into this. By notebooks, he likely means Death Notes, that's something that can only be understood by Light-kun and I.'_

Ryuzaki walks up next to us. "So, what do you think? Is it real?"

I know what Light is thinking, so I say it first. "If it's real, this guy is an idiot."

"Yeah, I agree." Matsuda says to me. "I mean, it's obvious that he wants to meets Kira at the home game."

"Doesn't he understand what would happen if we aired this message?" Mr. Yagami adds in. "It would create an immediate panic and the game would have to be cancelled."

Ryuzaki goes back to his chair, and eats one of his chocolates. "To be honest, it's so stupid, I'm not sure how to deal with this whole situation anymore. If we make the diary public, then we'll be forced to make some televised announcement cancelling the game on the thirtieth. But if we don't broadcast it, we can be sure the second Kira won't do anything."

We all walk over to the couches near Ryuzaki. "But won't cancelling the game make him angry?" Matsuda asks. "There's no telling what he'll do."

"Frankly, that's not a big concern." Ryuzaki explains. "From what we've witnessed, it's safe to say that the second Kira admires the real one. He gave his word to the Kira we invented that he'd refrain from killing aimlessly. I'm inclined to believe that. I say we make it public, and we air an announcement cancelling the game. At the same time, we'll announce that on May thirtieth we're going to set up checkpoints on all roads leading to the Tokyo Dome. And finally, we'll send a response from our invented Kira, something like, 'I understand, and I agree to meet you there.'"

Mr. Yagami objects. "Ryuzaki-san! You don't honestly expect him to go there if we set up checkpoints around the dome, do you?"

Ryuzaki takes a sip of his tea. "I don't think Kira would even consider it, but it's possible the other one might. It all depends on how stupid he really is." He holds up the journal page. "However, assuming he's not actually the idiot we think he is, there could be another message hidden in this diary, one that's not so obvious. If there's a message here, written in some code that only people who have this 'Shinigami' power can understand, there'd be no way for me to decipher it. Still, it would only make sense for us to look into all of the places that were mentioned in the journal. The twenty second, he's meeting a friend in Aoyama, twenty fourth, meeting another friend in Shibuya… We have to be prepared for the possibility that all of our efforts will be fruitless. Let's keep an eye out for people with notebooks in Aoyama, and people in clothing stores in Shibuya." He finally lowers the paper. "All we can do is place more surveillance cameras in Aoyama and Shibuya, in the hopes that we might capture something. We should also arrange to have undercover officers in both locations on these dates."

Matsuda pipes up happily. "I should probably go to Aoyama and Shibuya, since I'd blend in with the crowd there, y'know?"

"I'll go too." Light says, earning him a worried glance from his father.

"But, Light-" he starts, but Light interrupts him.

"I'll be alright, don't worry." He reassures. "Aoyama and Shibuya are places I'd go anyway. Not to mention, out of all of us, I'd probably look the most natural hanging out with Matsui-san there, besides Kiyohime-chan. Besides, the second Kira will be there looking for Kira, not the police."

Ryuzaki nods, before turning to me. "And what about you, Kiyohime-san?"

I shrug. "I suppose I'd blend in just as nicely as Light-kun. I might as well."

Around an hour later, Light, Matsuda, and I are standing outside, ready to go home.

"We'll talk more about our trips tomorrow." Light says to Matsuda as the former gets into his car.

"Sounds good, Light-san. See you tomorrow. Careful getting home." He gets into the taxi, and it drives away.

Almost immediately, Matsuda's phone rings. "The second I'm out the door, my phone starts ringing…" He mutters, before answering it. "Yes?"

I hear Ryuzaki's voice coming from the speaker. "When you three are working together, I want you and Mirai-san to keep a close eye on Light-san the entire time. And please, keep this between just the three of us." Matsuda looks over to me, and I nod to show that I had heard and understood.

"Sure, yeah, we understand." Matsuda clarifies, before hanging up. He turns to me. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

I bow respectfully. "Good night, Matsui-san." He walks inside, and I begin to walk home. I walk quickly and surefootedly, remembering what happened last time I was walking home, and not hoping for a repeat of that incident. _'It's possible that it was just dumb luck. If that's the case though, my luck could run out at any time.'_

Once home, I avoid my parents watching TV in the living room, and make my way upstairs to my bedroom. I turn on my laptop, and search for possible meeting places. Not ten minutes into my search, I stumble across a club called Note Blue, where a big event is happening on the twenty second. _'Huh, it's code. Blue and Mountain, this is pretty elaborate. I would think them slightly more intelligent than I had given them credit for, but he's still an idiot for mentioning Shinigami on a public broadcast. Anyways, this Note Blue place is definitely worth checking out while we're there.'_

On the twenty second, I meet up with Light and Matsuda in Aoyama, though Light decided to bring along a few friends. _'Odd that you'd bring along seven people, Light-kun. Unless you're trying to disguise yourself, and the best way to do that is in a group… Brilliant Light-kun, you thought farther than I did.'_

"Uh, hey, Light-kun, so, what's going on here?" Matsuda asks awkwardly, before Light turns to the group of people he brought along.

"Oh, these are some of my friends from school." Light explains, gesturing towards them.

They all giggle nervously, and Matsuda bows. "Nice to meet you."

"This is my cousin, Taro-san." Light says, gesturing to Matsuda. "It's his first time ever in Tokyo, and he wants to see Aoyama and Roppongi, so I figured the least we could do is show him a good time. I'm counting on you guys." They all bow again. "Oh yeah, he also told me he's looking for a girlfriend, so, does anyone want to volunteer?"

They all laugh outright at that, as Matsuda stutters, embarrassed. "Hey, I never said that!"

Light then gestures to me. "I'm betting at least some of you know Mirai-chan from school, but just in case you don't, she was probably one of the few rivals I had for the top spot in the class."

"Too bad you beat me to it. I won't lose next time!" I over-exaggerate, and they all laugh. A couple of the girls, Ayane and Risa, link arms with me, and our group of ten begins to wander around the park.

' _Clever, Light-kun. When we're walking around in a group like this, even if someone somehow saw Ryuk, there's no way they'd be able to tell who he's following.'_

We wander around the park all day, and both Light and I keep an eye on the doors of the Note Blue club, but I see nothing suspicious.

Three days later, we regroup at headquarters to discuss what we've found. Which is… absolutely nothing.

"So, we were there both days, In Aoyama on the twenty second, and Shibuya on the twenty fourth," Aizawa reports, "and we observed nothing of significance on either occasion. That leaves us with only the dome on the thirtieth."

Suddenly, the laptop beeps on to reveal Watari's signature 'W'. "Ryuzaki, apparently, Sakura TV has just received another message from the second Kira. It was postmarked on the twenty third."

The screen switches to the imposter's signature. "I'm happy to say that I have found Kira. To all the people at the TV station and the police department, I'd like to thank you very much." Light and I exchange glances, both of us surprised at this revelation. _'So, if he didn't actually come into contact with either of us, how did he find Kira? Is it another fake?'_

"This is a disaster if he found him!" Aizawa voices.

"Yeah, it most likely means that the two Kiras are now cooperating with each other." Mr. Yagami agrees.

Ryuzaki adds some sugar to his tea and mixes it. "At this point, I don't believe we should jump to any conclusions. The second Kira is only saying that he found him, nothing more. He may not have made contact yet. Now that it's come to this, we have no choice but to communicate as the police directly to the second Kira."

"You want to send a message?" Matsuda asks, confused.

"Yes." Ryuzaki responds, simply. "The police need to reach out to the copycat and offer him a deal. We need to negotiate with him to see if we can get Kira's real name."

Ryuk laughs in the background. "That's the last thing you wanted to hear, right you two?" Both Light and I ignore him.

Later that night, while I'm at home, the news anchor reads the police's message to the second Kira. "If Kira doesn't yet know your name, it may not be too late for you, provided you are willing to cooperate. Whatever you do, you must not approach Kira out of curiosity, make no mistake, Kira will kill you if you contact him. You'll be used, and disposed of. Consider your own life for a moment, yours, like every other, has an intrinsic value. Now is your chance to right past wrongs by sharing what you know about Kira. Only you can help us bring his reign of terror to an end."

Suddenly, a thought occurs to me. _'Say, I never did ask Light about the eyes that the phony spoke of in one of his videos. Might as well ask him now.'_

I sneak out of my house, and run to Light's. _'I can't call or email him, those could be traced. No, I have to ask him in person.'_

I would have knocked on his door, but I see an odd goth girl standing in front of it. _'I can't be seen… Hmm…'_ Some demon possesses me, and I end up climbing up the outer wall to Light's balcony. I raise myself high enough to see into his room just as he leaves. Not seeing any harm in doing so, I open the outer door to his room, and sneak inside. Though, I leave the door open to hear what Light and this girl have to say to each other.

She starts. "Um, pleased to meet you. I'm Misa Amane." There's a wrinkling of fabric, like she's bowing deeply. "I thought you might get worried if you saw that message on TV, I just couldn't take it anymore, so I brought," she pauses, as if reaching into her bag for something, "this notebook."

My eyes widen, and I stifle a gasp. _'Notebook? Like, a Death Note? Does that mean that this girl is the second Kira?'_

I hear the door open again, and Light say, "Please, come in."

"Are you sure it's okay? Thanks." The door shuts, and I shut Light's balcony door, slipping inside. I hear a few mumbles from outside, not quite understanding what it is they're discussing, before I hear footsteps on the stairs. I panic, knowing that they're on their way to Light's bedroom. I quickly, yet carefully, hide in Light's closet, leaving it open enough to see into the room.

They walk in, and Light rotates his desk chair to face the bed. "Have a seat."

"Oh, thank you." Misa says, and she sits down on the chair, while Light sits on the edge of his bed, facing her.

They stare at each other for a moment, before Light asks bluntly, "How did you find me?"

She gasps. "I knew it! You never made the Shinigami eye deal!" Light gapes at her. "When you have the Shinigami eyes like I do, you can see most people's name and lifespan, just by looking at them. However, you can't see the lifespan of any person who possesses a Death Note." I look at her through the door incredulously. _'Well, she gave me a better answer than Light-kun would have. So, Shinigami eyes, huh? That's what they are…'_

Light gapes, before turning to glare at Ryuk. "No kidding!" Ryuk nervously blurts out. "I have to admit, even I wasn't aware of that little detail."

He turns back to Misa. "Well, now you've managed to find me." He then glares at her. "But you were careless, what if you were caught by the police? Then they'd know everything about Kira."

"But it's alright. Because the police didn't catch me," she objects calmly, "and if I do as you say from now on, they'll never be able to, so we're safe. After all, don't you need someone to see L's name? I you want, I could be your eyes. So…" She looks down at her lap sheepishly.

"Yeah? So, what?" Light prompts her.

She looks up, and blurts out, "Would you please make me your girlfriend?"

I don't even see Light's reaction to her statement; I'm so shocked, though Light voices my exact thoughts. "Girlfriend?" He echoes.

She nods in confirmation, saying, "Yes."

Ryuk snickers as Light leans forward on his knees. "Impossible. The day that you and I were at Aoyama there were three times the number of surveillance cameras around. Anyone who would've been in Aoyama on the twenty second would have been caught on camera, and that includes me. If you and I were seen together, it wouldn't look very good. In fact, even being here together is a problem. I wish you'd understand that."

She reaches into her bag to take out two pictures. "But, look, these are pictures of how I looked when I went to Aoyama that day."

Light takes them and studies them, with Ryuk looking over his shoulder. "Well, I'm sure no one would recognize her from this." Ryuk comments, a smirk in his voice.

"What about your fingerprints?" Light interrogates. "All those tapes you sent to the TV station, they all had the same fingerprints on them."

"Yeah, but those aren't my fingerprints!" She defends herself. "It's not like I do these things without thinking about them first!" _'Oh, really? And I'm sure you revealing the eyes was well thought through. Geez, this girl is a total ditz!'_ "Up until recently, I lived in the Kansai region, and I had this friend who was into the occult. I suggested that we distribute this fake poltergeist I had made to a bunch of different TV shows, sort of as a prank, and she agreed to help me with it. I had her take care of all of the dubbing, so my fingerprints wouldn't be on the tapes. Then I took them from her, added the Kira graphic, and recorded the message with a voice effect."

Light interrogates further. "And this friend you made the tapes with? Where is she now?"

"Why are you doing this to me?" Misa snaps at him. "If you want me to kill her, just say so and I'll kill her!" The resulting silent moment is tense, before Misa calms down enough to speak again. "If you really still can't trust me, then here." She holds out her Death Note to Light. "I'll even let you hold onto my Death Note. But you'd just be holding it, so I'd still be the rightful owner of it, which means I get to keep my Shinigami eyes. Isn't that right, Rem?" She looks up at the empty space above her. _'Wow, is that how crazy we'd look to other people if we talked to Ryuk in public? Man. Anyways, likely, the space above her is where her Shinigami is currently standing. I really hope to dearest god it doesn't notice me. I'll have to discuss with Light-kun what we'll do about her after she leaves.'_

Light takes her Death Note, and she continues. "Now there's no way I could possibly kill you. And if I become a burden to you, you can just kill me, okay?"

Light stare at her for a half moment, before accusing, "But, you might've removed several pages from your Death Note, you could be hiding them somewhere for all I know."

She stands up, and cries, "Why are you so suspicious of me?! In already told you, I don't care, even if all you do is use me! Believe me…" _'She sounds so pathetic, like Light-kun is the center of her universe, even if she just met him today!'_

Light is silent for a moment, before asking skeptically, "How can you say that?"

She falls to her knees of the ground. "Exactly one year ago, my parents were killed in a robbery. I was home with them at the time, it happened right in front of me. I wanted that man to pay for what he did, but the trial dragged on forever, opinions started surfacing that he was being falsely accused." My eyes widen at her story, and I begin to feel a kind of bond with her. _'My older sister was killed in a robbery years ago, and the man who did it got away with it, too. Our stories are so similar.'_ "Then it happened. Kira punished him for what he did to my parents, and that's why Kira means everything, Kira means everything to me. All I, all I wanted was a chance to meet you one day! So I could thank you for what you did." She confesses, finishing with tears in her eyes. I smile sweetly, genuinely. _'This is what I wanted. I wanted Kira to help people, help them by destroying the ones who would hurt them. This is what I had dreamed Kira to be.'_

Suddenly, Light stands from his bed. He walks the few steps to Misa, kneels down in front of her, and takes her in an embrace. "I understand." He says. "I can't be your boyfriend, but I can act like it. The lengths you went to meet me, to help me, those eyes of yours, that you sacrificed half your life to get, will become my weapon."

She smiles. "Thank you so much. I'll try my hardest to make you love me, I promise." She returns his embrace.

I begin to feel slightly sad, like I'd just lost something. Then I look closer, and see Light shaking slightly, as if he's laughing. _'It's like he plans to use her… He does, the womanizer… But if he's a womanizer, then why hasn't he gotten rid of me yet? Interesting…'_

 **I'm super sorry that this was updated on Saturday, rather than yesterday, but I was up at our family's campsite. Similarly, I'm going to be at summer camp next week, so the update will definitely be on Friday, just a few hours later than most of you are used to. After that, I have the whole summer free, so there shouldn't be any more problems with updates.**

 **See you later!**


	9. AU Omake 1

**Hey guys, I'm really, really, really sorry that this isn't an actual update. I have been without an internet connection or a computer for the last two weeks - with the exception of last Saturday where I had to quickly post the last chapter - so I haven't been able to write much of chapter 9. It's not done, it's late, and I'm super-duper sorry about that. It can't be posted today or tomorrow simply because of all the work that it needs to actually be done.**

 **However, as a make-up present to all of you, next Friday, I will post both chapters 9 and 10 simultaneously, as I fully expect both of them to be done by then. I really hope you can forgive me for this, and as another apology, here's a small omake to tie you over until then. Enjoy!**

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Mirai-san. She'll be helping with the investigation." Ryuzaki says to his team.

"Are you kidding me?" Aizawa asks, not at all amused.

"What's wrong?" Ryuzaki asks them, clearly confused. "Mirai-san would be a great help in the investigation."

"Please tell me you're joking." Aizawa deadpans. "How on earth could she help with the investigation?"

"I believe her deductive skills would be imperative." Ryuzaki reasons, clearly believing that he is right.

"Well, I think it could be interesting to have her around." Matsuda tentatively agrees, trying to stay on Ryuzaki's good side.

"She could be a liability!" Aizawa exclaims, getting fed up with the team leader's actions.

"How could she? You believe she knows Kira?" Ryuzaki suggests.

"Or do you think she is Kira?" Matsuda adds on.

"SHE'S FOUR! WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK SHE COULD BE KIRA?!" Aizawa exclaims angrily, finally snapping.

"Then what's the problem?" Ryuzaki asks, oblivious.

"DEAR GOD YOU PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS!"

I crawl over to him on my hands and knees, grab onto his pant leg, and babble, "Aithawa-than!" happily.

 **That's all I've got for you guys this week, and now, my editor/slave driver is commanding me to write. Until next Friday!**


	10. Friend and Wager

I look up from my thoughts to see Light release Misa from their embrace. She smiles up at him innocently. "So, you'll just pretend? Alright, I guess it's a good start. Well, now that we talked about that, could you show me your Shinigami? I really want to see him."

Her request catches Light off guard, and I can see him debating whether or not to agree. "Yeah, sure." He eventually says, standing up. "Could you please turn around?" He asks her back, in his innocent voice, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing his wallet.

"Alright." She agrees, doing as he says.

Light takes the small paper out of his wallet's lining, and touches it to her bare hand. He hides it again, before telling her, "Okay, you can turn back now."

She does so, to be greeted by Ryuk leaning in close to her face. "Hey there, how's it going?" He says, trying to scare her.

"Oh, look at that!" She exclaims, unfazed. "You're a completely different type of Shinigami than Rem-chan, aren't you? I already know your name, it's Ryuk-kun, right? Nice to meet you!" She raises her hand in a wave, a gesture which Ryuk returns. _'Rem-chan? Her Shinigami's name is Rem, then. Are they that close for her to use honorifics, or is her Shinigami simply not infuriating?'_ "Oh, and by the way, Light-kun darling, do you know how to Kill a Shinigami?" She continues.

This catches both my and Light's attention, but for different reasons. "Did you just call me by my first name?" He asks her, and I mentally face-palm, as the actual motion might draw attention to me. _'She wants to tell you how to kill a Shinigami, and_ that's _what you focus on?'_ I rant at him in my mind. _'Hold up, did she just call you darling?'_

"Then do you mind if I call you 'Knight' instead? 'Cause you're like my knight in shining armor, you know." She explains, as if it would justify her suggestion.

Light sighs, nearly exasperated. "Let's just stick with Light."

"Okay!" Misa giggles. "Rem-chan, would you mind explaining to Light-kun what you told me?" She looks at the empty space to the right of her with puppy-dog eyes, and Light and Ryuk's gazes follow hers. _'I swear, I would think they were crazy if I didn't know what was going on.'_

They listen for a few minutes, and I stand awkwardly in the closet, waiting for one of them to say something. Luckily for me, Light summarizes. "So, if a Shinigami has feelings for a human and kills someone else to extend that human's lifespan beyond its natural end, the Shinigami will die?"

"That's right!" Misa cheerfully confirms.

Ryuk laughs. "Good luck finding a Shinigami who'd volunteer to do that."

"That's true." Light agrees, looking at Ryuk from the corner of his eye. "I can't see you ever doing that. By the way," he turns back to Misa, "where did you send all those tapes from, the ones that went to the TV stations?"

"Let's see…" She raises a finger to her jaw in a typical thinking pose. "Osaka the first time, then Tokyo, this other one from Nagano, I took the bullet train every time so the police couldn't pinpoint my location."

Light leans forward. "Alright, one more thing, do you still have the videotapes and envelopes with your friend's fingerprints on them?" She nods.

"Well, you'll have to dispose of everything that was used to create those videotapes, understand? But before you do, I need you to send one last video, and make sure it's from a place you haven't used yet." He goes into my thinking pose; it seems I've rubbed off on him more than I thought. "It should say, 'I've decided to stop searching for Kira. And, I'd like to thank the police department for all of its advice. "'However,'" He stands up, "'I still plan to help Kira in his mission. And I hope that, in time, he will come to see me as an ally. I will start by punishing criminals that Kira has yet to judge.'" He walks over to Misa, who is still sitting in Light's desk chair. "'Also, I will share my power with those I judge are worthy, and I will encourage them to do the same. Together, we'll make this world a better place.'"

"'Share my power'?" Misa echoes, confused.

"We'll just add that part to throw off their investigation." Light explains to her, incredibly patient. "They suspect there are already two people who have this power, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that there are others, and if they believe the numbers are growing, they'll start to panic. Can you do this?"

"No need to ask, tell me what to do and I'll do it." Misa agrees, immediately loyal. "I don't care what it is; I'll do anything for you."

"There's one more thing that's very important." Light adds. Misa leans forward in anticipation, ready for any order. "If you get arrested by the police, or if you're ever brought in for questioning, you can never mention anything about us or the Death Note. As long as they don't get a hold of the notebook, there's no proof that you did anything. Can you promise to say nothing?" He looks from the wall back to Misa.

She lifts her right hand to her head, palm facing Light, in a promise salute. "I promise." She puts her hand down. "So this must mean that we're officially boyfriend and girlfriend now, aren't we?" She giggles.

Light's caught off guard again by her conclusion. "Well, sure, I guess…"

"Then I'd like to add one condition." She says, holding up her right index finger. "You have to go on a date with me at least once a week."

Light sighs in exasperation, and I restrain one of my own. "We can't!" He says harshly, causing Misa to recoil.

"But, why?" She exclaims despairingly. _'Honestly, this girl must have been spoiled rotten. I doubt I'd ever be able to understand her mind.'_

"It looks like I'm going to have to spell this out for you." He leans on his desk with one hand. "L already suspects that I'm Kira, do you see what I'm saying?"

She gasps in awe. "No way. L is amazing. I-I mean, everyone's been saying that he's gotten nowhere with the investigation, and that he's a complete idiot and stuff, but he already knows that much?" _'She really doesn't get it, does she? I retract my previous statement about her being intelligent. She's an idiot.'_

"Anyways," Light continues, ignoring her comments, "it's all worked out for me, because, thanks to that, I've also been able to get close to L."

"Huh? You and L are in contact with each other? Then that's even more amazing! This is getting so exciting!" She squeals, very similarly to a fangirl.

Light continues to explain, still ignoring her comments. "Even though he suspects me, L thinks that he's safe so long as I don't know his real name. He came out and told me who he was, just to get to me. However, he's only focusing on me because he has no other suspects, and he has no evidence. At this moment, I'm working with him on the case. Little by little, I'm winning his trust."

"Great, so all you have to do is take me to where L is, and I can see his real name for you." She concludes, but Light shoots down her idea.

"It's not that simple." He explains patiently, little seeming to actually get through to her. "Listen, it was difficult enough for me to get close to him. Besides, if all of a sudden, someone I just met gets too close, and at the same time the police detect changes in Kira or the second Kira's behaviour, that person will be suspected of being the second Kira. And, of course, that will put me under greater suspicion. We can't allow them to make that connection. That means we can't appear to be too close to each other. Do you understand what I'm saying?" He concludes his little monologue.

"I think I understand…" She trails off. "So is that why we can't go on dates? We can't be seen in public because it'll look too suspicious?" _'Nooooo…'_ I think sarcastically. _'It's cause Light-kun is scared that one of his other girlfriends will show up and ruin his reputation. You know, that actually sounds possible. Womanizer.'_

"Look," Light says, again exasperated, "we need to take the time now to come up with a plan, some way we can get you to see L without him knowing you exist." She nods. "I can't eliminate L without you. So I'll call you and see you as often as this situation allows."

"You will?" She asks dreamily, sounding love-struck, making me roll my eyes at her gullibility.

"But," Light continues, "to make sure that our meetings don't stand out, I'll have to make sure that I'm seen with other girls, okay?"

"Huh? What do you mean? You're seriously gonna date other girls?" She sounds jealous, not to mention angry.

Light looks away from Misa, and towards his bookshelf. "Well, yeah, more or less." I rub the bridge of my nose, fighting back a headache. _'Light-kun, it doesn't matter who they are, or whatever circumstances are in effect, there is no girl in this universe who is alright with hearing that.'_

Misa echoes my thoughts as a perfect example of them. "I don't want you to!" She shrieks. Before standing, and saying in a chilling voice, "If I see you with another girl, I'll kill her." I retreat a minuscule distance, making a mental note to keep Light at arms' length, before I feel a small, fiery anger in my chest. _'Who does she think she is, claiming Light-kun for herself?'_

Ryuk laughs. "Scary." He quips.

Light closes his eyes. "Look, sweetie…"

"Ryuk echoes, "Sweetie?" the same time I think it.

Light grabs Misa by the shoulders. "This is not a game. Both of us are risking our lives to change the world, aren't we?"

Misa looks away, blushing. "I know that, but, I love you more than the world, Light-kun."

He stares at her for a second, before saying, "I think you're confused. Maybe it feels that way to you, but you're here because you admire Kira. You don't even know me, we just met."

"Don't you believe in love at first sight?" She asks, sitting down and clasping her hands.

"No." Light deadpans.

"Everything you said was true." She says, now ignoring his comments. "I did want to meet Kira, out of gratitude and respect, not love. But from the moment I first saw you, I knew." She fantasizes. I glance at Light, and his face is hard. Ryuk laughs again, taunting him.

"Well, you can show me your love by obeying me." Light counters. "I thought you said it was okay if I used you. A minute ago, you swore you'd do anything I asked."

"Yeah, I did, but I never said you could date other girls! I mean, those are two totally different things!" She exclaims childishly.

Light leans in closer to her, threateningly. "I think you're forgetting I have both notebooks. If you don't obey me, I can easily kill you."

A headache then chooses to pass through me, and I rub the bridge of my nose harder to try and stave it off. I hear a voice, echoic, quiet, and distant, saying, "I would never allow that, Light Yagami." It began to fade, and I could barely make out mumbles of the voice. It fades entirely, and I open my eyes to see Light and Misa looking at the empty space near them.

"But if you use your Death Note to save her, wouldn't that mean you'd die too?" Light asks the empty space, likely where Misa's Shinigami is standing.

"That's right! If you tried to save me, you'd die too!" Misa agrees.

They stare at the invisible-to-me Shinigami a few moments longer, before a knock on the door is heard. "Light!" Mrs. Yagami calls out.

"Yeah, what is it?" Light responds, only slightly apprehensive.

I hear the door open, and Mrs. Yagami saying, "It's almost eleven thirty, you know. You really shouldn't have a girl here this late."

Light visibly relaxes. "Oh, of course. I guess we lost track of time."

"Sorry, Mrs. Yagami." Misa apologises. She stands, and Light walks her out of the room, turning off the light and closing the door behind him. I take this moment as my chance to silently leave the closet, stalk over to where Light left Misa's Death Note on his desk, and lightly tap my fingers against it. I then sneak over to Light's balcony, open the door silently, slip onto the balcony, jump off and land gracefully below, and listen to their conversation.

"I'm really sorry for coming over so late at night." Misa apologises. "See you later, Light-kun."

"Yeah." He responds passively.

"Light, you should walk her to the station." Mrs. Yagami suggests.

"Oh! No, I'm alright, thanks." Misa responds, turning down the offer. "Well, goodnight!" I hear quick footsteps fading away, symbolizing that she's left.

"Isn't she cute?" Mrs. Yagami compliments.

"Yeah, I know! When she got here, I wasn't so sure, but you're right! She's cute, mom! I like her!" Sayu continues, before she says, "Oniisan, for a while there, I thought you were dating Mirai-senpai, weren't you?"

"What? No, of course not." Light replies, a nervous and caught-off-guard tone used. "We're just friends, Sayu-chan. I was tutoring her for the end of senior year, nothing more, nothing less."

"Aww. I had already planned out most of the wedding, too…" Sayu pouts. Mrs. Yagami laughs, and Light begins to sputter incoherently. My entire face flushes red, and I quickly jump their fence, before running home and sneaking in. I collapse on my bed, thinking over all the information I received this evening, before I fall into a restless slumber, filled with blurry black, white, and gray images. I can't make heads or tails of them, and they bother me for the rest of the night.

The next day, at class, I sit in the row behind Light, and consequentially, Kiyomi Takada.

"Light-kun, Light-kun." She prods in a lowered voice, trying to get his attention. When he glances at her from the corner of his eye, she continues. "I thought you and I were seeing each other. That is, we're more than just friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are." He confirms, quieting his voice to match hers.

"Exactly, and that's the reason I'm sitting next to you in class, wouldn't you agree?"

"Sure."

"But you look like you don't enjoy being with me. I mean, you haven't even looked at me once."

"That's not true at all." He says, looking at her. "I guess I was just thinking about how everyone's going to be talking about us now. To think, that I'm actually going out with Miss Takada, the famous Miss Todai. I mean, you're the most beautiful woman at this school."

From beside me, Ryuk laughs. He leans down to my ear and whispers, "You sure you're not bothered by this?"

"He's a bloody womanizer." I mumble, just loud enough for Ryuk to hear. "This is typical for him, and since we're working together, I better get used to it."

I focus in on their conversation again. "Besides, I hate being called Miss Todai, or whatever. It's embarrassing." Kiyomi complains.

"Yeah, you're right." Light is silent for a moment. "We should forget about all of that stuff, and just go at our own pace."

A strong, sudden feeling of ' _I'm being watched,_ ' fills me, and I turn around some of the way to spy Mogi sitting near the door. His eyes aren't on me, however, they're on Light. I keep this information in mind, and vow to tell Light at earliest convenience. Unfortunately, for the rest of the day, Light isn't alone, as Kiyomi tails him to all of his classes.

At headquarters, another hotel and several hours later, I'm sitting with Ryuzaki and Mr. Yagami when Light knocks.

"Oh, come in!" Ryuzaki says cheerfully, turning around to see Light. "Your timing couldn't be better, actually. We just received another video message from the second Kira."

Light walks over to us. "Huh? Wow, that didn't take long."

"Yes. I believe it's the last one. Well, take a look at this." Ryuzaki then clicks on the TV, and the tape begins to play.

Misa's KIRA signature appears on the screen, and she recites in a distorted voice, "I've decided to stop searching for Kira. And, I'd like to thank the police department for their advice. However, I still plan to help Kira in his mission. And I hope that, in time, he will come to see my as an ally. I will start by punishing criminals that Kira has yet to judge. Also, I will share my power with others who I feel are worthy, and I will encourage them to do the same. Together, we'll make this world a better place." The tape ends, and Ryuzaki turns off the TV.

He sets down the remote. "After watching this, I can only think that Kira and the second Kira have managed to make contact."

"I agree. There's no way that the second Kira would just give up on finding the real Kira after being so desperate." I concur with him, and Light looks between us.

"What makes you two say that?" He asks, playing innocent.

"Oh come on, didn't you sense it?" Ryuzaki replies. "I was sure you'd come to the same conclusion we did after watching this once through." He reaches down to grab a doughnut, and takes a bite. "First, as Mirai-san said, consider how determined he was to meet Kira, so why the sudden change of heart? Now he wants to punish criminals Kira hasn't? And all he wants out of it is for Kira to see him as an ally? It begs the question, why didn't he do this to begin with? I'm guessing, it's because he never thought that far ahead. He probably met Kira and was told which criminals he was allowed to judge. I suspect the purpose of this message is to hide the fact that they met."

"I see…" Light trails off. "What I find really strange is that it's so unlike Kira to be so careless."

"That's true." Ryuzaki admits. "But are we to believe that Kira made a mistake this time? Or is this his way of telling us that they've made contact? It would be an effective means of provoking us. The idea of their union is very threatening. However, this is one less reason to suspect that Light-kun is Kira."

"Ryuzaki-san, what do you mean by that?" Mr. Yagami demands.

"If Light-kun is Kira, I don't think this is the message he would have had the second Kira send us, it doesn't fit. He would have had the second Kira go through with his plan to have me appear on TV, then deny they ever made contact, making the second Kira shoulder the blame for my death. He'd make him say something like…" Ryuzaki eats another one of his doughnuts. "'Although I agreed not to go through with this, I have come to realize it was not Kira's true intention that I stop. I'm positive that the real Kira would want L to die. There's no way he'd make me… stop."

"Ryuzaki…" Light starts, tentatively.

"Yes Light-kun?" Ryuzaki responds immediately, sounding slightly cheery.

"I think you're mistaken, I would never do that, if I were Kira." Light tries to defend himself, adding the last four words almost as an afterthought.

"Why not?" Ryuzaki asks, a teasing note in his tone. _'Is he feeling alright? Ryuzaki-san is never this playful. He's too happy, I feel like something bad is about to happen.'_

"Well, if you're L and I'm Kira, then I'd already know your personality pretty well. L would never appear on TV, no matter what threat he was facing," Light reasons back, "and he wouldn't allow someone to die in his place. The L I know would find a way to escape the situation."

Ryuzaki stays silent for a moment, before turning to Light and smiling. "So, you figured it out."

Mr. Yagami turns to his son. "Look, Light, you've got to stop that. I don't like hearing you say, 'If I were Kira', even hypothetically." He scolds.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Dad." Light apologizes, before turning back to Ryuzaki. "I just wanted to let Ryuzaki know what I thought of his plan. I posed that scenario because I want to help solve this case, it's the only chance I have to clear my name. Besides, the only reason I feel comfortable saying things like that is because I'm not really Kira."

Ryuzaki stops dropping sugar cubes into his tea to say, "That's a good point." He drops in another two sugar cubes, before proceeding to stir the liquid. "You're not Kira. That is, it would be a problem if you were Kira, because…" He pauses, trailing off. He's silent for a moment, before he confesses. "I feel like you're one of the first friends I've ever had."

"First… friends?" Light echoes, as if the very concept of not having dozens of friends for your entire life was foreign to him.

"Well, I would say you were my first friend, but I believe that position belongs to Mirai-chan." Ryuzaki explains to Light, and his change of honorific concerning myself does not go unnoticed by me.

At his words, my eyes widen, my heart melts, and I die a little on the inside. _'Oh… Hey, intuition? Yeah, you were right about that whole something-bad-is-about-to-happen thing. If I look at this from Kira's mindset, his words would sound like some clever move on his part, but, he said them so sincerely. Are they, are they actually true?_ _In a way, I understand him. Growing up without friends, eternally fearing that your friends will backstab you, yet trusting them not to.'_

I hear a voice inside of me comment, _'Until they do. And they often will.'_

"I know what you mean." Light says, sounding sincere. "The three of us have a lot in common."

Ryuzaki takes another sip of his tea. "Thank you." He says, voice full of emotion, before he actually turn to look at Light.

Light smiles, not quite as sincere as he was. "And, I have missed having you around at school. We should play tennis again soon."

Ryuzaki shows a small smile, and nods. "Yes, we should."

The rest of the evening is spent discussing the Kira case, though little is actually accomplished in the next hour before I leave.

Just before I step out the room door, I turn back to Ryuzaki, and ask, "Ryuzaki-kun, could I speak to you for a moment?" Then, as an afterthought, I add, "Privately?"

He seems momentarily shocked at my abrupt change of honorifics, before nodding. He gets up from his chair and walks over to me, waving the other task force members off to do their work. "What is it, Mirai-chan?"

I'm silent for a moment, a serene and thoughtful look on my face. "It's about what you said earlier, about me being your first friend…" I trail off, and hesitate.

"Did I say something wrong?" He prods, trying to get me to spit out whatever I'm trying to say.

"I just wanted to tell you how much that means to me." I confess, letting my heart talk for a minute, rather than my head. "I was never that socially apt, so I grew up without any actual friends. Huh, truth be told, you and Light-kun are the first friends I've had in years."

He looks at me with a soft expression. "I suppose we're alike in that aspect."

I smile sincerely. "I suppose we are." In the moment of comfortable silence that follows, my phone vibrates, and checking it shows me a worried text from my mother. "It seems I'm late getting home. Goodnight, Ryuzaki-kun." I open the door again, and leave before I can hear his response.

Halfway home, a thought occurs to me. _'Damn, I didn't get to tell Light-kun about Mogi-san tailing him. I guess I'm gonna have to try sneaking into his room again so I don't raise a fuss from Sayu-chan and Mrs. Yagami about being over so late.'_ I quickly run home, and change into a black jumpsuit to avoid being seen, while keeping maximum mobility.

I hear my mother call up to me, "We're going to bed now, don't stay up too late, Mirai!"

"I won't! Goodnight!" I call back, reassuring her. Not even five minutes later, I sneak outside, and make my way to Light's house, hyper aware of Mogi's presence outside.

I let myself feel anger towards Light for being so careless about letting Ryuzaki know that the two Kiras met, and towards Ryuzaki for figuring it out, and I high-jump over the Yagami's fence in a single bound, landing on my feet on the other side. I scale the wall below Light's room quickly, and just barely reveal my eyes above the balcony. Luckily for me, and stupidly of Light, he left his balcony door open a small crack, allowing me to hear their conversation, though not loud enough to carry much farther than his balcony.

"Rem-chan, I want Light-kun to love me, and I know we could be happy together." I hear Misa plead, facing towards the white Shinigami standing in a corner of Light's room. "It's all I ever wanted."

I turn my gaze to Light and Misa, and see Light standing behind and over Misa, his hands on her shoulders. When the Shinigami, I assume them to be Rem, says nothing, Light lowers his hands from Misa's shoulders. "That's a shame." He mumbles, taking a step away from the blonde.

"Fine." Rem mutters, causing Light to pause, and Misa to gasp happily. "As you wish, Light Yagami. But I do not like you. This will not kill me, even if it ends up lengthening your life. I will kill L for you." Her words make me freeze, and my eyes widen. "It really makes no difference, he is just another human to me."

Misa runs to Rem, shouting, "Hurray! Thank you Rem-chan, thank you so much! I knew I could count on you!"

' _Kill L? Ryuzaki-kun will… die? Just like that?'_ I think, distressed. _'That's it? No chase? No dramatic flair? No lead up? It would be way too easy for the government to cover it up! The world would think that Kira failed! But Ryuzaki-kun…'_ His face flashes through my mind, and I feel a stabbing emotional pain in my heart, along with a strong sense of denial, as if losing one of my two friends was inconceivable.

I shake my head to clear it of my thoughts, and tune in again to the conversation inside.

"So when should I kill him?" Rem asks, snapping Light back to reality from his thoughts. "If you take me to where he is, I can kill him immediately."

"The sooner the better. Maybe tomorrow." Light smirks dangerously, before shifting into my thinking pose. "I should think this over before we do anything. I need to think over tonight how we're going to kill L, and I'll give you my answer tomorrow."

"Very well." Rem agrees immediately, without any hesitation.

"Also, no matter what, you can't kill him until I give the order. No matter what, understood?" Light establishes, trying to get entire control.

"Alright, I'll promise you that." Rem agrees, again. "At least where L is concerned."

Light turns from the Shinigami to her human. "Misa-chan, I need you to give me your cellphone number."

She takes the order the wrong way, assuming it to be a romantic advance. "About time! What took you so long? Gimme yours too, okay?" She exclaims, far too happily.

"No Misa-chan, I'm afraid I can't do that." He denies her as gently as possible, but she still pouts.

"Why not?!" She exclaims, a bratty and spoiled tone in her voice. "I'm your girlfriend, I should have your number!"

"I already told you, I'm under surveillance by the police. Keep in mind, it's not difficult for them to bug even cell phones these days." Light explains calmly, just barely keeping his composure.

"Oh…" Misa admitted sadly, before perking up again. "Okay then, what about this? I'll just give you one of my phones!" She reaches into her purse, and pulls out a red flip phone, which she passes to Light. "I ended up with three, 'cause I use them for different things!"

"Yeah, good idea." Light agrees, taking the phone from her and smiling. "If we use yours, I think we'll be safe."

"That's great!" She squeals happily. "I can hear your voice every day, and text you, too!"

"No. I'll keep this one turned off." Light says bluntly, putting the phone in his back pocket. "I'll be the only one making the calls, and only when it's completely necessary."

Misa is taken back. "What? No way. Then when are you gonna call me?" She whines, sounding pathetic.

"Probably tomorrow." Light reassures her. "That will most likely be the day that we execute L, but I'll call you either way."

Misa clasps her hands in joy, and starts doing a little dance. "What? Tomorrow? It doesn't sound like a very romantic call, but I guess we can talk about us afterwards."

"Well, I think you should probably go home now, Misa." Light says, suddenly.

"Huh? But it's only seven o'clock! The time for lovers is just beginning, you know! We could go for a romantic dinner, then a moonlit stroll in the park, then after that, the main event!" She rambles, squealing, not noticing Light walking over to her.

"Misa…" He says her name, tenderly. I see him grab Misa by the shoulders, pull her close, and push his lips onto hers.

I freeze, looking horrified at the intimate scene in front of me, and I let myself fall from his balcony. I hit the ground as gracefully as I could manage in my dazed state, and as what I saw sinks in, all sisterly bonds I had felt towards Misa vanish, to be replaced by the hate and contempt I felt for the second Kira, increased a hundredfold. _'I hate you, Misa-san. I know not why, but I swear to all of the gods, I will destroy you.'_

I don't bother staying around to warn Light about Mogi tailing him, and storm back to my house, barely bothering to stay quiet. _'Damn that Misa-san!'_ I grumble as I get to my house. _'Damn her to the deepest depths of hell!'_

My thoughts go on. The moment I get home, I storm into the kitchen, where things get beaten, broken, slammed, and cursed at. Without checking, from past experience, I know that I've woken my parents, and the exact words being exchanged between them.

"Is Mirai alright?"

"Probably mad again."

"Any guesses as to which outlet she's using?"

"I think the sounds are coming from the kitchen."

"Fine, I'll go shopping for replacements tomorrow. Goodnight, honey."

"Goodnight."

The next morning, I show up at headquarters much earlier than usual, dozens of boxes in tow. Carrying three in my arms, I leave the rest in the hall temporarily as I struggle to open the room door. Once that mission has been accomplished, I walk inside, ignoring the surprised reactions of the task force members, and promptly place the boxes that were in my arms on the coffee table in front of Ryuzaki, before turning to retrieve the other boxes.

"Mirai-chan, what are these?" I hear Ryuzaki ask me cautiously, with a slightly worried undertone.

I respond immediately as I turn around and walk out the door, and without thinking, "I believe the first one's a Battenberg cake, the second's a Pavlova, and the third's a Chiffon cake." At this point I walk in with another three boxes, and the task force members have gathered around the coffee table to see what I've brought in. "These three are strawberry, chocolate, and raspberry cheesecakes." I set them down and bring in another three, before asking, "Could I have a little help, please?" Watari, Aizawa, Matsuda, and Mr. Yagami look at me for a second, before moving to bring in the other boxes.

I hear Aizawa call out to me, "Just how many boxes are there?!" Dismay and surprise in his tone.

"I think I counted about 48 boxes, but that was after I stopped at the orphanage. And the homeless shelter. And the local elementary school. Before that, I think it was… about a hundred? Maybe less?"

"Mirai-san, where did you get all of these?" Matsuda asks me with a childlike wonder.

I slump at this question, and look at the window. "I made them…" I mumble, hoping he doesn't ask again, but they heard me.

"You made them?" Mr. Yagami asks me in disbelief. "All of them?!"

I cover my face with my hands, and that's answer enough for them.

"Alright, but why did you make them?" Ryuzaki asks, genuinely confused. "Any why bring them here?"

"I made them as an outlet of my anger, and I brought them because I thought, if nothing else, Ryuzaki-kun would eat at least a few of them due to his obsession with sweets." I turn to him. "You do want them, right? Otherwise, I might as well take them to the-"

"No, no, it's fine, don't bother. We'll keep them." Ryuzaki interrupts me quickly, and opens one of the boxes on the table in front of him. I raise an eyebrow as he stares in awe at the Esterházy torte, but I shrug, and go to help the others bring in more cakes.

Outside, Matsuda asks me, "Wait, did you say you made them as an 'outlet of your anger?'"

I sigh, exasperated, and cry out, "I'm constructively aggressive!" He's scared into silence from my outburst.

Thirty minutes later, all four dozen boxes have been brought in, and everyone is sitting with a Merveilleux each, while Ryuzaki is examining the evidence we got from the various tapes.

He hold up various bags, muttering words like, "Hair, crumbs, hair…" Before he says, out of the blue, "Mr. Yagami, if I die within the next few days, your son is Kira." He holds up another evidence bag. "Hm, another hair…"

I pause in my eating to look at him in surprise, and memories of last night's events run through my memory. _'When should I kill him?'_

' _Maybe tomorrow. The sooner the better.'_

It shocks me like an epiphany. _'I can't let Rem kill Ryuzaki-kun, or else Light-kun will be found out!'_

Mr. Yagami stands up, infuriated. "What did you say, Ryuzaki-san?!"

"Exactly! What are you talking about, anyway?" Aizawa adds, just as distressed as his superior.

"If anything happens to me, I've asked Watari-san to make himself available to you, so I'm counting on the team." Ryuzaki continues, ignoring their protests.

Mr. Yagami walks up behind Ryuzaki's chair. "Ryuzaki-san, you said he was almost cleared, and now this? Honestly, how much do you suspect my son?"

Ryuzaki keeps examining the evidence. "The truth is, I don't know what to think anymore. I've never been in a situation like this. If Kira and the second Kira are working together right now, it isn't looking good for me. Given that, I may not be thinking as clearly as I normally do, so I could be wrong." He takes a long sip of tea. "Maybe I still consider him a suspect only because we don't have anyone else. But still… if I do happen to be killed soon, please assume that your son is Kira." I risk a glance at the other task force members, and see them all glowering at Ryuzaki.

' _No matter what, I can't let Rem kill him!'_

A few hours later, Ryuzaki and I decide to leave for the University, and Watari takes us both. Once we get there, We split up, Ryuzaki going to the courtyard of the university, and I go to my class. I just barely get to class on time, and find a spot before the Professor gets in. I can hardly focus, I'm too busy worried about the showdown between Ryuzaki and Light that is about to happen.

Throughout the rest of the day, worried thoughts about what happened between Light and Ryuzaki plague me. Although, at around five o'clock, I heard some classmates whispering about how the famous model, Misa Amane, had shown up to the University, talked to a couple people, signed some autographs, and took some photos with her fans before she left. _'Well, at least we have L's name, not sure what good it will do us now, considering we can't kill him in the immediate future, or else Light will be caught and jailed, or worse.'_

Once I get to headquarters, the task force tells me what happened.

"Misa Amane-sama? The famous model?" I ask them, pretending to be incredulous. "She's the second Kira?"

"Well, she's certainly a suspect." Ryuzaki informs me. "Though the chance of her being the second Kira is about… 60%?"

"How'd you come to that conclusion?" I ask him in mock confusion, wanting to know what Misa did wrong.

"We found various hairs and fibers from the masking tape used to seal the tapes, and they matched what we found in Misa-san's room." He explains, sitting down in front of the microphone and monitor. "Watari, has she said anything yet?"

"No. She hasn't said a word." Watari responds over the speakers.

"Get me a visual of her, will you?" Ryuzaki requests confidently.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, and quickly."

The entire taskforce gasps in disbelief. On the monitor is Misa, tied up, in a straitjacket, blindfolded, and whimpering.

"Ryuzaki-san, what's the meaning of this?" Mr. Yagami asks, outraged.

"I've apprehended her on suspicion of being Kira, I'm afraid this is necessary." Ryuzaki explains, a slightly regretful tone used.

"Chances are, Amane-san is guilty. There seems to be enough evidence to convict her, but, all the same." Mr. Yagami agrees, understanding.

"Yes, there can be no mistake." Ryuzaki nods. "Now, we need a confession out of her. We need to know how she kills, whether she knows Kira, and if so, who he really is." He leans closer to the microphone. "Watari, take the necessary precautions, but beyond that, you're free to do whatever has to be done, okay? Just make her speak."

"Very well." Watari responds, complacent.

"Mr. Yagami," Ryuzaki adds, "Light-kun has become our prime suspect, and I'm probably going to bring him in for interrogation as well. Please be prepared for that."

Mr. Yagami glares at him, something I can't blame him for. _' If it were my kid that was going to be interrogated, I'd be pretty mad too.'_

I look again to the monitor, and see Rem glaring at Watari, who is off screen.

It takes a few days for Misa to break, but Watari informs us when she does.

"Ryuzaki, Amane-san is talking."

Ryuzaki looks up hopefully, sprints over to the couch, and practically dive bombs onto it, while the rest of us look up blearily.

"Quickly, get me a visual and audio!" Ryuzaki shouts the order at Watari.

The rest of us plod over, but Aizawa saying, "Finally, after three days of this, huh?"

On the screen, Misa whimpers pathetically. "Oh, I can't take it anymore. Kill me."

No matter how strong my hate for her is, I still feel surprised at her request. "Kill me. Please, just kill me." She continues to whimper. _'Damn. She's definitely following Light-kun's orders, though. I didn't think they would break her to the point of wishing for death. Or… could she be asking for Rem to kill her so she won't break Light-kun's orders?'_

"I don't know, maybe this was all too much for a young girl to take." Aizawa suggests, unsure in our previous actions.

"He's right." Matsuda agrees. "We've pushed her too far."

Ryuzaki pushes a button on the microphone. "Misa Amane-san. Can you hear me?"

"I hear you." She responds. "Please, just kill me now."

"Does this mean you admit to being the second Kira? Is this the reason you wish to die?"

"No, I don't know anything about the second Kira. Oh, I really can't take this anymore, I'd rather be dead. Now hurry up and kill me! If you wanted to, you could kill me right now, couldn't you?!"

I glance from Misa to Rem. "Misa, do you mean…?"

"Yes. Kill me."

"Do you really mean that Misa?"

"Yes, I do. Oh, I can't take it anymore, kill me."

"If I do this, then Light Yagami dies, too. This is all his fault."

"You can't. No, you can't, please, just kill me." I watch the exchange between them.

"Fine!" She screams. "If you won't kill me…!" The rest of the threat unspoken.

"Watari! Stop her!" Ryuzaki yells. "Don't let her bite her tongue!"

Watari runs up behind her, and shoves a gag into her mouth, tying the strip of fabric behind her head to keep it in place.

"Is it possible this behaviour could be attributed to Kira controlling her actions before death?" Ryuzaki suggests.

I look at the screen a while longer, and watch Misa struggle against her bonds, when I hear Rem say to her, "Misa, there is a way to end your suffering without telling them about Light."

She stops struggling, and Rem continues. "You must forfeit ownership of the Death Note." She starts again. "Misa, when this is done, you'll forget everything about Shinigami and the Death Note. The human being who you love is Light Yagami. I promise those feelings will remain." She stops, and relaxes. "So Misa, forfeit ownership of the Death Note, and leave everything to Light Yagami." She nods, and a tear falls down her face. Rem reaches out to wipe it away, and moves a lock of Misa's hair up and out of her face.

Ryuzaki, who's sitting beside me, gasps, and I do as well, adding in a "Did you see that?" to keep up appearances. Slowly, Rem disappears from the screen.

Misa relaxes farther, as if she's fallen asleep, before tensing, and looking around wildly, as if she doesn't know where she is.

My eyes widen, surprised. _'She did it. She really forgot everything about the Death Note.'_

' _Likely, Rem will have gone to light-kun to tell him about the situation. Not to mention, he hasn't approached me to tell me about Misa-san or any developments that have happened as of late that I should have no knowledge of. Does he no longer trust me? Or does he trust me to the point that he believes that I will figure everything out without him telling me?'_

' _Either way, Misa-san's imprisonment means trouble for Light-kun, as I don't believe Rem likes him very much. Either way, this entire game has gotten a lot more complicated. Interesting…'_

 **And it is done! A week late… I'M SOWWY!**

 **This chapter, by far, took the longest to write. At least three weeks, though one of those weeks was me up at the campsite without internet, and as I base this story pretty closely off of the actual Anime, the internet is a necessity, another was wasted at camp, where I got, legit, no sleep all week cause my cabin mates kept me up all night with their talking and phone lights.**

 **Though, this is also a very special chapter for me, as it is the one that was used as a guinea pig for a few things. The first four pages were actually written by hand at first, because I couldn't use a word document at the time, and about three of the later pages used Windows Speech Recognition in order to transcribe them because I was feeling really lazy and wanted to try something new. I'm sorry this is late, but hopefully having two chapters in one week will make up for it! The next chapter will be up sometime later today.**

 **Onto the next chapter!**


	11. Decision and Execution

"Mr. Stalker, hello? Where are you right now? Hello, Mr.?" Misa whimpers and begs. "Do you think we could stop this game now?"

The various task force members around me mutter their questions. "Stalker? Where'd she get that?"

I speak up on her behalf. "Most celebrities end up having stalkers, so it would only make sense that a young girl, such as Misa-sama, would have jumped to the conclusion of having been kidnapped by a stalker."

"Yeah, sure, but what's with the new attitude all of a sudden?" Aizawa asks, still unsure.

Nobody has an answer for him, but Misa continues her whimpering. For hours.

"Mr. Stalker, this is illegal, you have to stop it. Please?"

"She's been acting like this… ever since she regained consciousness." Aizawa comments.

"Seriously, does she think she can get out of this just by playing dumb?" Matsuda adds.

"Okay, how about this? You could at least take off my blindfold, don't you think? It would be nice to see what you look like." She begs, almost to the point of hysteria.

Ryuzaki suddenly lifts his hand towards Matsuda. "Matsuda-san, call Mogi-san for me."

Matsuda reaches into his suit pocket. "Just a second." He dials the number, and hands it to Ryuzaki.

Ryuzaki holds up the phone to his ear in his own unique way, and starts to speak. "Mogi-san, when you apprehended Misa Amane-san, you made it clear she was a suspect, correct?"

My attention is pulled back to the monitor, were Misa is struggling again. "What if I gave you an autograph or shook your hand? I can give you a kiss on the cheek if you want!"

' _The idiocy of celebrities. If someone was willing to actually kidnap you, I'm pretty sure they'd want more than just a peck on the cheek.'_ I think to myself, mentally facepalming.

"I'll do whatever you want! Oh, I won't run away, I promise!" She continues to try and bargain her way out.

Ryuzaki activates the microphone, and speaks. "Misa Amane-san."

"Huh? What's that, Mr. Stalker? Are you planning to release me?" She asks, nearly dashed hope in her voice.

"Before you passed out, you barely spoke. You even asked me to kill you. Now you're claiming ignorance?"

"I don't understand. I mean, you were the one who knocked me out and then brought me here, remember? Oh wait, I get it! This is some kind of Misa Amane interrogation fantasy, right?" Aizawa, Matsuda, and I look at one another confusedly.

"Do you know why I'm containing you here? You must have some idea." Ryuzaki asks pleadingly, hoping that his one lead wouldn't have suddenly vanished.

"What do you mean? Because I'm a celebrity, obviously." Misa says with confidence. "but you're definitely the first stalker who's gone this far, and you're starting to scare me."

Matsuda loses his patience, storms over to the microphone, grabs it, and yells, "Hey, Amane! No one's buying this, so cut it out!"

"Oh, this is scary…" She whimpers. "What's going on? I can't stand it anymore! Please let me go! You have to let me go!" She begins to struggle again.

Matsuda opens his mouth to say something else, but I put my hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn to me. "That's enough. I don't think she's faking it anymore."

"Uh, I, uh, have to go to the bathroom! I have to go to the bathroom again, okay?" She tries switching tactics.

"It's only been four minutes since you went to the bathroom." Ryuzaki points out. "I'm afraid you'll have to hold it."

"You have to! It's the only time you'll untie me and let me move. Plus, you'd be able to watch! Isn't that what you want? Isn't it, you pervert!" She snaps.

I glance from the screen to Ryuzaki, who mumbles, "I'm a… pervert?" whether in shock, or just plain confused, I can't tell. "Amane-san, let's get back to the conversation we were having before you lost consciousness. First of all, you know who Light Yagami-is, and if so why did you approach him?"

"Huh?" Misa perks up, suddenly willing to talk. "What do you mean? How could I not know my own boyfriend?"

' _Misa-san, you idiot! I don't care if it was an order given in the middle of a conversation about the Death Note; you promised to Light-kun that you would never tell the police that you knew him! Damn, you just gave Ryuzaki-kun evidence that Light-kun is Kira!'_

"Well, isn't this a one-eighty turn." I comment, more to myself than for the others benefit. "And the only thing to happen between then and now was her screaming to die, and her being unconscious… What could have triggered this?" I leave out a few parts on purpose, knowing that the rest of the task force was listening.

Suddenly, Ryuzaki's phone begins to ring. "Good timing, it's Light-kun." Mr. Yagami sits up at that. "Please turn the audio and video off." Watari does so, and Ryuzaki answers his phone. "Yes… yes, I understand. We'll be expecting you in room K2801."

Mr. Yagami takes a step towards us. "Are you saying my son's coming here?"

Ten minutes later, Matsuda opens the door, and lets Light inside. Everyone is dead silent for a while, before Light speaks up.

"Ryuzaki, like I said over the phone," he pauses, before he admits, "I could be Kira."

Mr. Yagami's expression quickly changes to that of horrified, as does my own. _'Light-kun, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing?! Do you want to get yourself killed?! Do you want to just throw away everything we've worked to accomplish?!'_

Mr. Yagami runs to his son, and starts to shake him by the shoulders. "No, Light! What are you talking about?! Why would you even say something like that?! Why?"

Light looks away from his father sadly. "Look Dad, if Ryuzaki is L, then it's safe to say that he's the world's best detective. And right now, he seems pretty sure that I'm Kira. We know L's never been wrong before." He hangs his head. _'At least he has the decency to act like it pains him. I swear to god, Light-kun, if this entire thing is meaningless, I will kill you with my bare hands.'_

"Wh-what are you saying, Light?! Stop this!" Mr. Yagami demands.

"What about that FBI agent, Raye Penber-san? It was me he was investigating immediately before he died. And I was in Aoyama on the twenty second. Also, I'm the first person in the Kanto region that Misa-san, the alleged second Kira, approached. It's all been me. If I were in L's place, even I would've come to the same conclusion. You see?" He holds up his arms at a 90 degree angle, palms facing up. "Subconsciously, I might be Kira. If that were the case, I could be him and not even know it."

"No, Light…" Mr. Yagami trails off.

"I-I'm not sure of anything anymore. I'd never kill someone, but unconsciously, who knows what I'm capable of? Another me could be killing people as I sleep…"

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Ryuzaki counters.

"Not possible? What do you mean?" Light asks, now actually confused.

"Well, I never mentioned this to you, but at one point I had hidden surveillance cameras installed in your room for five days." Ryuzaki admits rather shamelessly.

Light acts offended. "Cameras?"

"Yes. Every single night, you slept normally. Criminals whose names were broadcast were still dying, even though you had no way of knowing about them. But this didn't prove your innocence to me. All it proved is if you were Kira, no amount of camera surveillance would reveal that fact."

"Wouldn't reveal that fact, huh?" Light's venomous voice quickly became unsure again. "I don't know, it could be true. I have to admit, I've found myself thinking that some criminals deserve to die. If I can think like Kira, then how can I be sure that I'm not actually him?"

"Hold on Light-san! I feel exactly the same way!" Matsuda admits, and walks over to Light. _'Aaand there goes Light-kun's plan, whatever it is. What the hell, Matsuda-san, why couldn't you just stay quiet?'_ "I've found myself thinking before that some people would be better off dead. But still, that doesn't mean we're going to go out and kill people! Isn't that right? Besides, criminals were still being killed, even when you had no knowledge of them. I mean, the surveillance cameras proved it, didn't they?"

"Well, no." Aizawa comments. "Because we were short on investigators then, we only watched him while he was at home. Truth is, we weren't able to watch him every hour of the day. It's possible he'd found some way to kill those criminals while he wasn't at home."

Light glances at me, and that one look alone tells me three things.

' _I'm sorry for not telling you about this beforehand.'_

' _Don't worry about me; this has been all planned out.'_

' _Wait for a signal before you make another move.'_

The small glare I send back conveys three of my own messages.

' _I'm mad at you for not telling me about meeting Misa-san.'_

' _I'm pissed that you went through with this before thinking of every outcome and being prepared for each of them.'_

' _But, no matter what, I'll do what you need me to do, because I trust you, you damn moron.'_

With a tiny, imperceptible nod to each other, we turn to Ryuzaki.

"Honestly, I don't like the way this is going at all. What choice do I have?" He looks at the ceiling. "Let's do it." Mr. Yagami gasps. "I need you to fully restrain Light Yagami, and place him in solitary confinement."

"What? You can't!" Mr. Yagami yells.

"You want us to… confine him? Seriously?" Matsuda asks.

"If we're going to do this, then it has to happen immediately. From this point on, you can't be allowed to go anywhere where I can't see you."

"This is crazy!" Mr. Yagami snaps. "There's no way my son could be Kira! My son's not capable of-"

"It's okay, Dad." Light interrupts him.

"Stop this, Light!" He pleads.

"Listen, something has to be done about this. As long as I'm having these doubts, I can't work with you to catch Kira. But Ryuzaki, promise me this, until you can say with absolute certainty that I'm not Kira, you can't set me free, no matter what I might say or what condition I might be in."

"You have my word." Ryuzaki agrees. "Yagami-san, can you come up with some sort of excuse for Light-kun's absence? Something to tell your family, and, please do it now."

"But, this is all so sudden, what should I say? And I see no reason why he should be imprisoned." Mr. Yagami fights a losing battle.

"Let it go, Dad." Light shushes his father. "If I don't do this, I won't be able to live with myself."

"But son, do you really mean that?"

"Yeah, I believe that by giving up my very freedom, I'll defeat the fear that Kira lurks within me."

Five minutes later, Light is handcuffed, blindfolded, and wearing earmuffs.

"Aizawa-san, please take him away." Ryuzaki says, not even bothering to hide the fact that it pains him to say it.

Aizawa nods, and leads Light away. As I glance around the taskforce, I don't find a single sign of anyone being happy about this.

The next day, Light sits in his cell, silently, not moving a muscle. The camera we set up captures every inch of the solitary confinement cell, which means it also captures Ryuk, though the others can't see him.

"So, I guess apples are out of the question." He comments wistfully, before something occurs to him, and he perks up. "Oh, unless Mirai has some!" He looks directly at the camera. "Hey, sweetheart, if you're watching this, would you mind buying me some? That would be great!" I close my eyes to conceal an eye roll at Ryuk's antics.

I hear footsteps coming towards Ryuzaki and I, and a simple turn reveals it to be Mr. Yagami. "Ryuzaki-san. I'd like to request that you take me off this investigation." His request is quickly met with objections from Aizawa and Matsuda. "I've thought about it, and the fact is that we're holding my son, Light, as a prime suspect. Given that, it's not appropriate for me to be here. When we spoke earlier, my feelings got in the way. It's impossible for me to be objective in this situation."

"I agree with you." Ryuzaki responds. "We can't let personal feelings get in the way."

"And, in truth, if the task force concludes that my son is Kira, I don't know what I'd be capable of."

"Yes, I'll agree with you there. To be honest, I wondered what you might do. I believe you'd kill your son, and then yourself. I'd also agree that it's best if we don't have you working here, for now."

"Ryuzaki-san. I will ask that you confine me as well. At the moment, I'm calm. But to be honest, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."

"I thought you might say that, so I spoke with Watari. He's made arrangements. But your confinement will be different. You will keep your cellphone turned on, and maintain regular contact with family and friends. We won't tell Light-kun about this, if he does call you at some point, he is to believe that you are still at headquarters. While you're in confinement, we'll be giving you continuous updates on the investigation, so you'll know what's happening." He takes another bite of one of my chocolate ganache cakes. "So how does that sound to you?" Something occurs to me, and I look around the hotel suite, to only see about half of the boxes I'd brought in. I sweatdrop, before tuning back into the conversation.

"I'm grateful." Mr. Yagami says. "Thank you."

It's now the third day of confinement. I'm surprised that none of those confined have snapped yet. Misa's given up, Light's biding his time, and Mr. Yagami is just waiting for news.

"Hey, mister? I really want to take a bath. I'm pretty sure you already know where I live, don't you? Could you bring me some clean clothes?" Misa whines. I would have snapped and written her name in the Death Note already, if Rem wasn't threatening to kill Light.

"I didn't think this could get any more bizarre." Aizawa comments.

"I feel so sorry for the chief right now." Matsuda adds, returning the atmosphere to depressing.

"Ryuzaki, talk to me. What's happening?" Light calls out. "Have any new criminals been identified? Anyone that Kira would be likely to target? If so, has he killed any of them?"

Ryuzaki pushes a button on the middle microphone. "In fact, quite a few criminals' names have been broadcast recently. But, since you've been detained, we haven't had one report of a criminal being killed by Kira."

"Wait, no one's been killed? Really?" Light asks, surprise in his voice. _'Oh, come on. You expected this, obviously. What are you planning, Light-kun?'_

"Yes." Ryuzaki deadpans.

"I see." Light looks down. "So it's only a matter of time before I'm convicted of being Kira."

Ryuk looks around. "What I wouldn't give for an apple… Mirai! Come on! Please?"

' _Just what do you hope to achieve by this, Light-kun? By not having criminals die, it only strengthens the argument against you. What is your goal in doing this?'_

Day five of the confinement. Ryuk's complaints have gotten very… vocal.

"I can't take this anymore!" Ryuk groans, twisting into uncomfortable poses. "If I don't get an apple soon, I don't know what'll happen."

"In the end, I'll just have to get through this, no matter what." Light determines, ignoring the Shinigami's antics.

"You know, Mr. Stalker, your video won't sell if it's just me sitting here all the time." Misa says, trying to get out of her bonds.

"Yagami-san looks pretty bad." Ryuzaki comments. "I think he's taking this harder than Light-kun or Misa-san."

"What do you expect? It's been five days since Light-san was put in prison, and look, not a single criminal whose name was broadcast has been killed." Matsuda adds, just as dejected as Misa and Light. "In these situations, I think the parents suffer more than the accused."

"No kidding." Aizawa responds. "Especially now that we're seeing proof that Light-san is Kira."

Ryuzaki activates the third microphone. "Mr. Yagami."

He jumps out of his chair. "What is it?! Is it good news?! Is it bad news?!"

Aizawa, Matsuda, and I all sigh collectively. "No, I wanted to tell you not to worry so much." Ryuzaki reassures. "It doesn't matter how much time you devote to worrying about this, the outcome will be the same. This could go on for quite some time. Perhaps you should rest in a more comfortable place."

"Impossible! What makes you think I care where I am?!" Mr. Yagami throws the chair to the ground. "It won't change anything! With the state I'm in now, this is the best place for me. And no matter what the results, when I leave here, it's going to be with my son!" He yells at the camera.

"I understand." Ryuzaki says, very quietly, almost timidly.

Day seven. Light's just sitting on the floor of his cell, practically dead.

"Light-kun, you've only been here for one week." Ryuzaki says through the microphone. "But I'm sure it can't be easy. Are you feeling alright?"

Light remains silent for a minute. Still dead in the eye, he finally looks up, and says, with a well-hidden smirk in his voice, "Yeah. I know I must look pretty bad in here, but this useless pride, I suppose I'll have to… get rid of it."

Ryuk tenses, before jumping up. He stares at Light for a moment, before he nods. "Got it." He walks through the wall. "Later!"

The effect on Light is almost immediate. His eyes widen, and become more lively, and he begins to look around in confusion. In return, both my and Ryuzaki's eyes widen.

"Ryuzaki, I realize that I was the one pushing for confinement, and that I asked you to put me in here, but I just realized something important!" He calls out, his voice noticeably more innocent. _'Oh dear god, he looks like a lost puppy. That's… both incredibly adorable and saddening.'_ "This whole thing's completely pointless! Because I'm not Kira! You have to get me out of here!"

' _He lost his memories, just like Misa-san… that means… No, he wouldn't have! Light-kun values the Death Note too much!'_

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Ryuzaki responds to Light. "I promised you, that no matter what you said, I wouldn't let you out until I was convinced that you are not Kira."

"Please L, I wasn't thinking clearly!" Light begs. _'So innocent, and to think, that was what he was like when I met him. Is that what the Death Note does to you? Takes away every shred of innocence you have, and replaces it with hate for the world?'_ "Do you really think a serial killer like Kira could commit those crimes without being aware of them? If I have no memory of his crimes, I'm not him!"

"I've never been able to accept this idea that Kira has been acting without self-awareness all this time. But that doesn't change the fact that all the evidence points to you being Kira. Since we imprisoned you, Kira hasn't committed a single murder."

"Listen, just hear me out!" He sounds so strained, so panicked, that I have to fight the urge to push Ryuzaki from his chair, and talk to Light. "I swear to you, I'm not lying, you have to believe me! I'm not Kira! I must have been framed, that's the only explanation of this! You have to let me out, we're wasting time!"

"We can't let you out yet."

"Damn…" Light throws his head to the ground in frustration. "Why is this happening?!"

"What the hell is going on?" Aizawa asks. "This isn't like Light-san at all. He's contradicting himself, it doesn't make any sense to me."

"Well, we can't release him now that the murders have stopped!" Matsuda reasons. "It doesn't matter what he says, I mean, even I know that much."

Aizawa crosses his arms. "Anyway, I don't care what anyone says. As far as I'm concerned, we have all the proof we need. Light Yagami is Kira, and that's the end of it."

I stare at the monitor, and ask, "Ryuzaki-kun, may I?"

He looks at me, surprised by my sudden words and request, before he stands. "Be my guest." I take his seat. "Press this button to talk to Light-kun without a voice modifier." He points it out, and I nod my thanks.

I press and hold the button, and say, "Light-kun."

His head snaps up to stare at the camera. "Mirai-chan?"

"Yeah. Light-kun, you need to calm down. I know you're not Kira, and I'm going to need you calm if I'm ever going to be able to convince the task force that that fact is true, alright?"

He nods at the camera. "Alright."

"Good. Don't worry, everything will turn out fine." I release the button and stand, letting Ryuzaki take back his chair. I grab my coat, and go to leave, though not before I hear Light say, "Thanks, Mirai-chan."

Aizawa stops me just before I walk out the door. "Why do you keep defending him?"

I look at him, letting honesty take over. "Because I've known Light-kun longer than all of you, with the exception of Mr. Yagami, and what Kira's doing isn't something that Light-kun would do." He steps out of the way, and I walk out in silence.

I walk home at a leisurely pace, and once there, go hide in my room. I sit at my desk, quietly thinking through everything that's happened. _'Light-kun's been imprisoned, Misa-san's been imprisoned, and I have no idea where their Death Notes are, or why the bloody hell Light-kun never told me about Misa-san. Okay, got that? Good.'_

' _So, you know nothing.'_ An odd, foreign, feminine voice comments, making me jump in surprise. I look around, but I see no one who could have responded to me, and I lean my head on my desk again.

Suddenly, a very familiar Shinigami floats through my wall. "Hey, Mirai!"

I look up from my desk at him. "Oh, hello Ryuk. Why're you here?"

"Light told me to go to you once he gave up ownership of the Death Note."

"THAT IDIOT DID WHAT?!"

Ryuk cringes from my voice, and tries to defend himself so I won't hurt him. "Relax, it's all part of his plan to get Misa out of prison without Rem killing him in the process."

"Oh? And who's this Rem?" I question, wanting a reason to know what I know.

"Don't act like you don't know. I saw you hiding in Light's closet the first time Misa showed up." He crosses his arms in a very disapproving manner.

I sigh. "How many apples will it take to keep you quiet on that fact?"

He smirks. "A dozen! No, two dozen!"

I grab my purse. "Alright, let's go."

We walk, well, Ryuk floats behind me, to the fruit stand, and purchase the two dozen apples, before heading to a very remote part of a nearby park, where I let Ryuk gorge himself on the fruit. I then lead the way back home, while Ryuk follows me. I reach the safety of my room, let Ryuk in, and lock the door behind me. I break the silence by asking, "So, why'd Light-kun tell you to come to me?"

"To give you a few things. First, these." He pulls out three pages of the Death Note, and hands them to me. "And then this." He hands me a folded piece of paper, and unfolding it reveals a handwritten note in Light's neat script. "He wants you to read that as soon as you can."

I look down at the paper, and read silently, subconsciously giving the words Light's voice.

' _Mirai-chan: Since you're reading this, I assume that I've lost all my memories of the Death Note. Using the three pages of the Death Note Ryuk just gave you, I need you to start writing down the names of criminals. I'll be unable to do so while I'm amnesiac, so you have to in order to convince the task force that I'm not Kira. Take care of Ryuk and keep him from being stupid for a while. Hopefully Ryuk's explained everything to you by now, so this next part will make sense. I've sent Rem off to find some power-hungry lunatic to use Misa's Death Note for their own purposes, so we'll have a fall guy who'll act as Kira for a while. Wait for my next signal. Light.'_

' _Well, alright. I guess I'll do what I have to.'_

"So, it seems we're going to be roommates for a while, Ryuk."

"I guess so." He laughs. "You humans are so entertaining. Let's see how Light's plan turns out."

Day fifteen of confinement, and day eight of Ryuk following me around. To be honest, he's not as irritating as I'd thought he'd be.

Matsuda suddenly bursts into headquarters. "What's going on?! I just heard, two weeks worth of criminals were just murdered, all at once! It happened yesterday!"

' _Yeah, I wrote down all of the names I had to, all with the same time of death, two weeks in. Really throws them off, doesn't it?'_

' _Certainly does. You clever girl.'_ I feel the response reverberate through me. This odd, feminine voice has been contacting me through my thoughts on occasion throughout the last week. I've never been able to ask it anything, as it only gets one sentence in before vanishing.

"Yeah." Aizawa says, monotone. "Kira's back."

"So did you guys already tell the chief?"

"No, not yet."

Matsuda rushes over to the monitor and microphones, grabs the third, and shouts, "Guess what, chief! Kira's started killing again!" Mr. Yagami stands up in his cell, looking at the camera in surprise. "It looks like Kira was only resting, but now he's started punishing criminals again!"

"Is that true, Matsuda?" Mr. Yagami asks, hope filling his voice. "Then, that means, my son… I shouldn't be happy that people have been killed, but, at least Light's name will finally be cleared. Wait, knowing Ryuzaki, this won't be enough to clear his name."

We all turn to the man in question. "Well," Ryuzaki admits, "he's in the gray."

"Did you hear what he just said, chief?" Matsuda says, enthusiastically.

"Yeah, it's a hell of a lot better than being completely guilty, thank god." Mr. Yagami sighs out.

"As far as grays go, he's a shade closer to being cleared!" _'Matsuda-san, you idiot. That sounded like one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.'_ "Let's tell Light-san!" He reaches out for Light's microphone, but Ryuzaki slaps it away.

"Matsuda! I mean, please don't, Matsuda-san." Ryuzaki scolds in a disturbingly low and dangerous voice.

"Matsuda…?" Matsuda echoes, confused at the dropping of honorifics.

"We shouldn't tell him about this."

"But-but why not?"

Ryuzaki ignores his question, and clicks on Light's microphone. "Hello, Light-kun?"

"What is it, Ryuzaki?" He asks, practically having given up.

"You've been in here for just over two weeks, and not a single new criminal has been punished. Now, why make this harder than it has to be? Are you ready to confess?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Light fights, looking at the camera with fire in his eyes. "I'm telling you, you're wrong. I understand why you feel that way, but even if the evidence does point to me, I swear to you, this is a setup! I am not Kira! Zoom in on me if you want, go ahead, look at my eyes! You tell me, do these look like the eyes of someone who's lying?!"

Ryuzaki says nothing, but instead turns to Misa's microphone. "Amane-san. Are you ready to tell me who Kira is?"

She lifts her head. "Huh? That again? I wish I knew, but I don't. Because if I did, I'd thank him for punishing the burglar who killed my parents. To me, Kira is a hero."

Ryuzaki lets out a very quiet, confused, and frustrated groan.

Day thirty six. The entirety of this situation has fallen on me, of being Kira alone, without someone to work with. It all feels rather empty, not to mention stressful. Then, I go to University, attend classes, and go to headquarters to work on the Kira case. Once there, I sit and do homework while listening to Misa whining, which, coupled with my already intense dislike for her, makes me rather irritated.

Which leads up to the situation I'm in now.

Aizawa, Matsuda, and Ryuzaki suddenly all decide to turn to me in my corner of gloominess, where they see me surrounded by origami paper, origami cranes, origami roses, origami lilies, origami dragons, origami hearts, origami butterflies, origami bunnies, origami cats, origami lotuses, and hundreds, if not thousands, of little origami Lucky Stars. I finish making another dragon, placing it among the rest, when I notice their staring.

"What?" I ask, irritably.

"Last I looked at you, not even an hour ago, there wasn't anything around you. Now you're surrounded by… paper… everything…" Aizawa trails off, not even sure how to finish his sentence.

"I'm constructively aggressive!" I snap. "Baking and origami are only two things on my long, long list of things I do whenever I'm mad." Ryuzaki opens his mouth to say something to me, but I hold up a hand to stop him. "Don't ask me to list them, it would go on all day."

He closes his mouth, and they spend the rest of the day glancing over at me, where my pile of origami quickly grows into a mountain, one I have to dig myself out of at the end of the day.

Day fifty. This has gone on for far too long, Light snapped again a few days ago, begging and pleading to be released. Now, everyone is simply… silent.

"Yagami-san, are you alright? There's no reason for you to keep doing this to yourself." Ryuzaki says to the police chief.

"It's been over a month since Kira started killing criminals again. And as far as I'm concerned, that's all the proof I need to be sure that my son isn't Kira." Mr. Yagami reasons. "So then, all that's left is for you to be sure. One way or another, when I get out of here, it will be with my son."

"Wow, the chief can be pretty stubborn." Matsuda comments. Aizawa and I nod.

Ryuzaki presses the button for Light's microphone. "Light-kun, how are you feeling right now?"

Light groans. "Ugh, I'm okay. Ryuzaki, I know that in the time I've been imprisoned, no new criminals have died. However, that suggests to me that Kira is someone who's intimately familiar with my situation. And if that's the case-"

Ryuzaki interrupts him. "No, Light-kun, the reason criminals have stopped dying is because you are Kira."

"No, I'm not Kira! How many times do I have to say it?!" He cries out, and my heart begins to hurt. _'I hate seeing a friend in pain, but there's nothing I can do to stop it. Hang on, Light-kun.'_

' _Oh, talking to your friend in your head, how original. He can't hear you, you know.'_

' _I know.'_ I respond to her, knowing that she can't respond to me again.

"This is just cruel. I don't care if he is a suspect, Light-san has a right to know that criminals are being killed again." Aizawa voices.

Ryuzaki switches to Misa's microphone. "Amane-san."

"Yes?" Barely even a whisper, but a small response, nonetheless.

"Are you alright? You seem tired."

"Is that supposed to be funny? How do you expect me to look after being tied up and questioned for this many days?"

"Hmm, that's true."

"Please, just let me go. I want to see Light-kun. Please, Light-kun, help me…"

"I'm not sure how much more of this the three of them can take…" Matsuda comments, sympathising with them.

"Ryuzaki, you have no reason to keep Light-san locked up anymore." Aizawa snaps. "Do the right thing and let him go, then we can get the chief out, too! Criminals are still being killed, even though Misa-san and Light-san haven't had access to any of that information. We know that much already, so what are you waiting for?"

"Not true." Ryuzaki says. "All we know for sure at this point is that Amane-san harbors an unnaturally strong devotion for Light Yagami."

"Ryuzaki. I'm sorry, but with all due respect, from where I'm standing, it's starting to look like you're only doing this cause you don't want to admit you were wrong about Light-san."

"Yes, I figured you'd say that."

"Okay, fine, but we do know Kira killed Lind L. Tailor and those FBI agents, right? As Light-san said, if Kira could kill while under surveillance, and without access to information, there would have been no need! If they didn't pose a threat to him, why would he bother killing them? Kira doesn't kill without good reason, I've heard you say so yourself on more than one occasion."

"Oh, I see." Matsuda nods along, understanding. "If he was able to kill under these circumstances, then he wouldn't have been concerned about those FBI agents in the first place!"

"It's already been fifty days! There's no point to this anymore! Ryuzaki, it's time to start looking for the real Kira."

Ryuzaki pauses in eating his ice cream. "Yes, I understand." But he doesn't make a move to tell Light anything.

I sigh. "Ryuzaki-kun, if you're still unsure about Light-kun and Amane-san being Kira, I have a rather foolproof plan to get them to either confess or reveal themselves."

He looks to me. "Do tell."

I look down, feeling like I was about to betray Light. "It's cruel and barbaric, but it would be effective." He gestures for me to go on with a small movement of his hand. "We could get Mr. Yagami to drive Light-kun and Misa-san to a remote location, claiming to be driving them to their execution after having been found guilty, before pulling a gun on them, and threatening to kill Light-kun and then himself, letting the police come to find Misa and take her to the execution grounds. If Light and Misa don't kill Mr. Yagami, then neither of them are Kira. As they aren't, there is no danger in this, and you can be reassured of their innocence."

"And what if they do kill Yagami-san?" Ryuzaki tests me.

"We'd have to have a camera in the car, so on the impossible chance that he does die, we'd have it both on video, and we'd have caught Kira."

Ryuzaki thinks it over, and nods. "That will work, Mirai-chan." He turns on Mr. Yagami's microphone. "Yagami-san?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Would you be willing to come to headquarters, just once? I'd like to discuss my thoughts with you, but it must be done in person. However, above all else, I need to talk to you as Light-kun's father."

"Alright, I'll come." He admits, after a moment of consideration.

Three days later, Mr. Yagami frees Misa, and drives her to the prison where Light is waiting with Aizawa. Ryuzaki and I are sitting at headquarters, waiting for everything to start. I ignore Misa's useless and stupid chatter that's coming over the speaker, and instead focus on my own thoughts. _'What have I done? I feel like a terrible person, I've betrayed one of my only friends.'_

A tear rolls down my cheek, but I quickly wipe away the offending liquid, and focus on what's going on in the car.

"I was starting to think I'd never get out of there, but it feels good to finally be cleared." Light admits, sighing.

"No." Mr. Yagami shoots down their hopes by continuing. "I'm afraid you two are being taken… to your execution." Both Misa and Light gasp in horror. "I wanted to be the one to escort you to the execution site. It was secretly built in an underground facility not far from here."

Light and Misa voice their panicked objections, but they fall on deaf ears. "L is convinced that you are Kira, Light." Mr. Yagami continues. "And that Misa Amane is the second Kira. He is convinced that the only way we can prevent the murders is to execute the two of you."

"I-I don't understand. The killings have already stopped!" Light cries out.

"No, they never stopped."

"They never…? That's not what he told me, so he was lying?" Light asks, betrayal lacing his tone.

"L was trying to get a confession out of you, Light. He would've said anything, but at this point, that's not the problem. It's political now, you see, L's suggestion that the killings would stop if you two were eliminated was unanimously accepted by top officials in the UN and the Japanese government. They want Kira to disappear. No trial, no publicity."

"But that's completely insane! Please Dad, I'm not Kira!" Light cries out.

"He's right! What kind of a father are you, anyway? This is your own son you're talking about!" Misa agrees, also yelling.

"L made this decision, not me. And his word is absolute. Over the years, he's tackled the most difficult cases, solving all of them. He's never been wrong." Mr. Yagami explains, staying calm.

"You trust L, more than you trust me? Your own son?" Light asks, voice laced with venom.

"L went so far as to stake his own life on this theory. If the killings don't stop, then he too, will be executed."

"What? L said that? What the hell could he be thinking?!" Light exclaims, stressed. "I know that given the material evidence, this might seem like the only logical solution, but he's making a mistake! How could L come to this conclusion?! Something's not right here, it's just, it's not like L at all! The L I know would rely on hard evidence! He has to have the truth! Is he really planning to end it like this?!"

"Alright, we're almost there." Mr. Yagami comments, and the car gets brighter as they drive out of the tunnel, before he drives the car off-road, beneath the bridge, and parks.

"Where are we right now?" Light asks, uncertainly. "And why did you bring us out to the middle of nowhere? What is this?"

"Wait a sec, I bet he brought us out here to let us go!" Misa concludes, slightly happily.

"This will do. There's nobody around to see us out here." Mr. Yagami states. "I decided it would be better for us if I brought you here instead of the execution site. Listen to me." He turns around to face Light and Misa. "I'm going to kill you here, and then kill myself."

"What are you talking about, Dad? That's crazy!" Light exclaims, almost to the point of hysteria.

"How could you say that?! You'd kill your only son for L?! If you want to die so bad, then why don't you kill yourself?! If you do this, you're no different than Kira!" Misa screams.

"I am nothing like Kira!" Mr. Yagami shouts. "I am bound by my responsibilities as a parent and as chief of the NPA."

"Dad! Come on, she's right! Think about it, if we die here, the truth will never be revealed! Please Dad, you have to let us escape!" Light pleads.

"It's too late! Either way, you'll be executed. At least with this, I'll be the one to do it." Mr. Yagami pulls his gun on Light.

"Please stop, dad, I'm not Kira!" Light begs, and both Light and Misa begin to struggle harshly in their bonds. "If I die here, Kira wins! Can't you see?!"

Mr. Yagami puts the barrel to Light's forehead. " Amane-san. I'm going to die here with my son, but I have no reason to kill you, do you understand what I'm saying? It's only a matter of time before the police locate this car, and they'll transport you to the original site, and execute you there." Mr. Yagami disables the safety, and says to his son, "Light, my son, from one murderer to another, I'll see you in hell."

I take a deep breath, reminding myself that this isn't real, that they'll be just fine, that Light and Mr. Yagami will come out alive.

"No dad!" Light cries.

"No, stop it!" Misa screams.

And then, the gun is fired.

Light sits back, having recoiled from the gunshot. "You used a… blank?"

Mr. Yagami lets his head fall in relief, then turns around to face the front. "Oh, thank goodness." He sags down in his seat.

Light and Misa sit up. "Thank goodness?" Light echoes. "What's going on? I don't understand."

"Please, forgive me you two." Mr. Yagami admits. "I know it was hard on you two, but it was the only way I could get you out of prison. You must understand, I only agreed to do this because I believe in your innocence, Light." He lifts his head to look above the rear view mirror. "Were you watching Ryuzaki? I did exactly as you said, and as you can see, I'm still alive."

"Yes, it was a convincing performance." Ryuzaki agrees. "If Amane-san were the second Kira, who only needs to see a person's face to kill them, there is no doubt that she would have killed you before you had the chance to fire your weapon. Also, if Light-kun was in fact Kira, the Kira I know wouldn't hesitate to kill even his own father to save himself. With Light-kun in particular, I cannot rule out the possibility that he may have seen through our act at some point, however, as we agreed, I will end their confinement immediately. And, as we discussed, Amane-san will remain under surveillance until Kira is apprehended. And since she insists the tapes we found were just occult videos, the physical evidence we have, plus her confession suggests otherwise."

"Hey, no fair! You still suspect me?!" Misa yells childishly, and I restrain my urge to roll my eyes.

"If I were you, I wouldn't complain. You get to go back to your normal life. If you're innocent, then the surveillance shouldn't be a threat to you. Think of it as complimentary police protection."

"Oh, I get it. Since I'm not the second Kira, it'll be kinda like having my very own private bodyguards." Misa concludes. I let out a silent sigh of exasperation, but do not comment.

"As for your part in this agreement, Light-kun, you and I will be together twenty-four-seven. And that's how we'll remain until we bring Kira to justice."

Light takes a moment to accept it and take it all in, before he nods. "Fine by me. We'll catch Kira, together."

"Yes. I look forward to working with you." Ryuzaki agrees, a smile on his face.

The three return to headquarters, where, the moment Light steps in the door, I slap a handcuff on his left wrist. A handcuff with a very, very long chain, the other end attached to Ryuzaki's right wrist.

Light raises an eyebrow at me, and I respond with saying, "Twenty-four-seven."

He looks to Ryuzaki. "Are you sure this is necessary, Ryuzaki?"

Ryuzaki holds up his cuffed hand in response. "This is as difficult for me as it is for you."

"So is this what you meant by being together twenty four hours a day with him?" Misa concludes. "Looking at you, I never would have guessed. Are you on that side of the fence, Ryuzaki-san?"

"I already told you, I'm not doing this because I want to, okay?" Ryuzaki tries being patient with her.

"But Light-kun belongs to me! I don't wanna share him with you! If you're with him twenty four seven, then how are we supposed to go on dates together?" It doesn't work, of course, and Misa continues to whine.

"Oh, well, you can still go on dates, but it'll have to be the three of us."

"No way! Are you telling me we have to kiss in front of you and stuff?"

"I'm not telling you to do anything, but yes, I suppose I would be watching."

I would throw something in there to make matters worse, but I can simply tell from the auras Mr. Yagami and Aizawa are giving off that they can't stand this nonsense, and me adding to the fire would make them turn that wrath upon me. So, more than willing to throw Misa to the flames, I stay silent.

"That is so gross! You really are a pervert, aren't you?"

"Light-kun, could you please make Misa-san stop talking now?"

"Listen, Misa-chan, that's enough. The police have already established that it was you who sent those tapes, so you're lucky to even be here right now. They have every right to keep you in prison." Light scolds her. _'Light-kun, she's a spoiled brat. A simple scolding will not work.'_

"How could you even say that, Light-kun? In case you forgot, I'm your girlfriend! Don't you trust your own soulmate?" Her whining starts to get to me, and I take out a small stack of origami paper.

"What do you mean, soulmate? You're the one who said you fell in love with me at first sight, Misa-chan."

"So why would you kiss me if you didn't have feelings for me?! You took advantage of me?! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!"

' _Womanizer, woman-womanizer, you're a womanizer…'_ The lyrics run through my head as I finish the first cat, and move onto the next.

"About this love at first sight," Ryuzaki asks, "it happened in Aoyama on the twenty-second, didn't it?"

"So what?" Misa asks tearfully.

"Why did you choose that day to go to Aoyama? And do you remember what you wore?"

' _Clever word choice, Ryuzaki-kun. I'm afraid that neither of them really remember that day, as it revolved around Death Notes.'_

"It's like I told you, I just happened to go there. I don't know why, I don't remember how I felt, and I don't even know what I was wearing! Anyways, since when do I need a reason to hang out in Aoyama? Huh?"

"And somehow, when you came back from Aoyama, you knew that you were in love with some guy and that his name was Light."

"Yes!" _'Misa-san, you idiot!'_

"And yet, you yourself have no idea how you came to know his name?"

"Yeah, so what?!"

"Tell me, what if Light-kun was Kira? How would it make you feel?"

"How would I feel if Light-kun was Kira?"

"That's right."

"Oh… That'd be wonderful… I mean, I've always been grateful to Kira for punishing the men who killed my parents, so if I found out that Light-kun was actually Kira, that would be like a bonus for me. If anything, it would make me love him even more! Even though it's impossible to love him even more than I already do! "

My origami making picks up pace, and I place a fourth cat next to the other three, before starting on a dragon.

"It's Kira, though. You'd love him even more for that? I mean, wouldn't you be afraid? What if he tried to kill you?"

"You're talking about Light-kun being Kira? He wouldn't be scary at all! I'm a supporter of Kira, so if I found out my Light-kun was actually him, I'd think of how I could be helpful!"

' _Light-kun may not be scary, but his partner sure as hell can be…'_

' _I'd agree with you on that. You can be scary as hell when you want to be.'_

"That's very generous of you, but I'm pretty sure Kira doesn't need your help. Well Misa-san, based on what you just told me, there can be no mistake that you are the second Kira." My eye twitches, and my folding gets more, shall we say, violent? "But you've made it so painfully obvious that I don't want to believe it."

"Whatever! It's not believable because I'm not the second Kira, okay?! Hmph!"

"Anyway, for the time being, you'll remain under surveillance. When you do go out, if needed, you'll be able to contact us using this room's extension. For the most part, your life will return to normal, but from now on, for all private and work related affairs, Matsuda-san will be accompanying you as your new manager, Matsui. Your agency has been paid to keep quiet, and the police don't know. Don't blow his cover."

"This old guy's my manager? Oh, you can't be serious!"

Matsuda objects. "Oh, come on! What's wrong with me, Misa-Misa? Is it the tie? Cause I could-"

Aizawa snaps. Quite literally, he goes from barely contained anger to volcano in a split second. "Would you cut it out with all this dating, kissing, and Misa-Misa talk already?!" He yells. "This is the Kira investigation, stop messing around!"

"Sorry about that, Aizawa…" Matsuda apologises sheepishly.

"No, it's alright, I just figured out what the problem is." He growls out, and walks over to Misa. "Misa Amane, it's time for you to go to your room." He demands, pointing a finger at her door and everything, before he grabs her and pushes her out the door.

"Why?" She whines.

"Out you go!" He demands in a sing-song voice. He pushes her out, but she escapes under his arm, before he grabs her again and shoves her out.

"Hey Light-kun! Let's go on a date, even if it is the three of us!" Misa calls out while struggling to hold open the door, before Aizawa finally shuts it and locks it.

"Many thanks, Aizawa-san." I say, finishing another crane, and laying it with the small pile of cats, dragons, cranes, bunnies, and butterflies.

He nods at me, and makes his way back to his seat.

"So, Light-kun, are you serious about her?" Ryuzaki blatantly asks.

"No way. Like I told you earlier, it's completely one-sided." Light denies Misa, and I start to feel better.

"Then could you at least pretend to be serious for the sake of the investigation? There are two things I know about Amane-san for sure, one, that she's involved in this, and two, that she's in love with you." He adds the second point in with a small laugh.

"You want me to become intimate with her to gather information about the second Kira?"

"Yes, I think you could do it without arousing her suspicions, and Amane-san would definitely be a valuable source of information for us. Not to mention, this is the main reason why I agreed to release the two of you."

"Ryuzaki, as much as I want to help you, as important as the Kira case is to me, I can't manipulate a woman's feelings like that."

Ryuk laughs from behind me. He can be so quiet to the point where I forget he's there, but I quickly join in.

"What so funny?" Light asks, looking at me.

"Th-that was such a blatant lie, I-I, I can't!" I burst out laughing again. Once I've calmed down to the point where I can form coherent words, I continue. "What about Kiyomi? Or Yuri? Or Emi? Or Shiho? I'm pretty sure you dated all of them at one point or another, and all of them left with broken hearts! Face it, Light-kun. You leave when the chase is over."

I can see Light debating whether or not to punch me, but when Ryuzaki goes quiet, he instead asks, "What's wrong, Ryuzaki?"

"Nothing! I suppose you're right, after all." Ryuzaki admits. "However, considering that Misa-san will have a lot of contact with the public, it would be helpful if you could make sure she doesn't leak information."

"By the way, do you think we could come up with some kind of alternative to this system of moving from hotel to hotel every few days?"

"Yes! In fact, I had that very same thought some time ago. So, I arranged for a facility to be built. Construction started just after my first meeting with Yagami-san and the others, it should be finished in a few days…" He types in some code. "Where is it, here it is!" Everyone walks over to see, and we all gasp. "Twenty three floors above ground, and two below. Although it's impossible to see it from the outside, there are two helicopters hidden on the roof."

"What!" Matsuda gasps.

"That's amazing…" Light comments.

"Ideally, I want all of us to spend as much time here as possible, if the investigation team grows, we can accommodate up to sixty people. Misa shouldn't have any complaints, since she'll have her own floor…"

"This is truly impressive…" Light says, awed. "To go to such lengths…"

"Hold on a second! Where did you find the finances to build this thing?" Matsuda asks, making a good point.

Yet, Ryuzaki ignores him. "As you can see, it is my intention to solve this case, no matter what it takes. That's how it is."

"I'm sorry, but how is that an answer?" Aizawa asks, but Light interrupts him.

"No, he's right!" Light defends. "The mass killing are bad enough already, personally, I will never forgive Kira for putting my dad and I through this. I want to solve this, no matter what it takes."

"If you're serious about that, then you should try to get close to Misa-san, and try to find out about the second-" Ryuzaki challenges.

"I can't, it goes against my principles."

"Right, you said something like that. What a shame…"

Aizawa tries to stifle a laugh, but a tiny snort comes out. "What was that?" Mr. Yagami asks him.

"Uh, nothing, I'm just feeling really motivated, chief!" Aizawa turns to each of us. "Ryuzaki, Chief Yagami, Light-san, Mirai-san, let's get out of here and bring Kira to justice!"

Matsuda slides up. "Uh, excuse me, but I think you forgot my name!"

We all laugh at that.

' _Let's go bring Kira to justice, huh? Funny, considering you're talking not to one, but two Kiras right now. I wonder if they'll ever find me out. Considering how Ryuzaki-kun stopped thinking that Kira was more than one person ages ago, and how he's so focused on it being Light-kun, I'll never be caught. How interesting…'_

 **21 pages.**

 **21 DAMN PAGES.**

 **I started this morning with three, and wrote, hardcore, for about 7 ½ hours. Now, I'm going to go binge watch Inuyasha until my back stops feeling sore, so I can write the next three chapters next week.**

 **Cya later!**


	12. Ally and Soul

I walk through the front doors of the new headquarters building, and try not to gawk at all the high-tech equipment around me. Walking over to an input panel, I enter in my code, 8246, before placing my right index finger on a scanner. It analyzes it, and projects a copy onto an attached screen. I then take a tube and place it over my right eye, and a laser scans my retina, the results are projected onto the screen, before a picture of my face appears behind them. The next door unlocks, and I walk through to the metal-detector room. I take off my jacket, earrings, and watch, placing them in the indicated area, before I walk through the metal detector, and pass through on my first try.

' _Nailed it.'_ I think to myself in a sing-song voice, before another thought occurs. _'Dear god, am I really that sleep deprived? I need tea, right now.'_

I walk into the main room, grabbing my items and redressing myself. "Good morning, Yagami-san, Matsuda-san." I say out loud, Ryuzaki, Light, and Misa nowhere in sight.

They both reply "Good morning." I sit down at the computer on the far left, sitting beside Mr. Yagami.

Not a half hour after I've sat down, Aizawa walks in through the metal detector, wearing only his underwear, socks, and shirt. "Good morning." He calls out, gruffly. I silently thank the gods that I decided to wear as little metal as possible.

"What's wrong?" Mr. Yagami asks. "Did you get hurt?"

"Oh, this?" Aizawa reaches to touch the Band-Aid on his forehead. "Kind of. I had a little fight with my wife and… it's just that my daughter's still young, and I'm hardly ever at home as it is, so…"

Mr. Yagami nods, understanding. "Ah. Yes, it's probably best if you sleep at home."

"Well, you're gonna be missing out, the rooms in this place are amazing!" Matsuda hypes. "If I were you, I'd just move the whole family in here!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's easy for you to say as a bachelor." Aizawa shoots down the idea.

"Mirai-chan, why aren't you living here?" Matsuda asks, turning to me to include me in the conversation.

"My parents were against the idea of me living alone in an apartment, in a building of almost exclusively men, namely because of the two that are my age. Amane-san doesn't count, apparently, because she has her own floor." The lie flows from me so easily. In order to ask my parents to live at headquarters, which they would have been against anyway for the aforementioned reasons, I'd have to explain to them that I was working on the Kira investigation, then they would have freaked out and pulled me from the investigation team and forbidden me from speaking to any of them for the rest of my life.

"I can understand that. I wouldn't want my daughter living with a bunch of strangers." Aizawa nods, before asking, "Where are the others?"

"Oh, they're on a date." Matsuda explains. "Last we checked, all of them were up in Misa-Misa's room."

"Surveillance cameras, huh?" Aizawa comments. "Well, since we know Misa-san has some kind of connection to the second Kira, I guess it does make sense." He turns to Matsuda. "But for god's sake, Matsuda, would you stop with this 'Misa-Misa' crap."

"Uh, yeah, sure…"

We all turn to the screen. "Man, this has got to be the lamest date I've ever been on." Misa complains.

"No no, please, just pretend I'm not even here, okay?" Ryuzaki reassures. "By the way, are you gonna eat that piece of cake?" He points.

"Cake makes you fat, I'm not gonna eat any."

"Actually, I've found that you don't gain any weight as long as you burn calories by using your brain."

"Humph! So now you're calling me stupid?! Fine then! I'll give you the piece of cake as long as you agree to leave me and Light-kun alone!"

"Even if I leave you two alone, I'm still gonna be watching on surveillance cameras, so it wouldn't make any difference."

"You pervert! Could you stop it with your creepy hobby?!"

"You can call me whatever you like," he stands from his crouch on the couch, steps onto the coffee table, and grabs Misa's plate, "last chance for cake!"

Misa scrunches her face up in a very… uncomfortable way. "Okay then, I'll just close the curtains and turn off the lights!"

Ryuzaki crouches back down. "We have infrared cameras in here as well." Misa pouts, at least her face is out of its weird position.

"What's wrong with you?" Light asks, turning to Ryuzaki. "I thought moving here was supposed to help us catch Kira, but since we've been here, you don't seem all that motivated to me."

"Not motivated?" Ryuzaki sags in his position. "You're right. Actually, I'm depressed."

"Depressed? What for?"

"Well, truthfully, all this time I thought that you were Kira, and my entire case hinged on that fact. I guess I just can't get past the fact that my deduction was wrong. Although, having said that, I'm still suspicious of you." He hold us his wrist. "That's why we're wearing these." He lets his arm fall. "And we also know that Kira can control people's actions, which means it's highly likely that Kira was controlling your actions so that I would suspect you. If I assume both you and Misa-san were being controlled by him, then everything we've observed so far makes a lot more sense to me."

"If that's what you think, then Misa-chan and I were both Kira during the time we were being controlled, right?" Light clarifies.

"Yes. I don't think I could've been wrong about that. The two of you are Kira." They glare at him. "If what I'm thinking is correct, when your confinement began, you were Kira. I don't believe it's coincidence that as soon as you were imprisoned, the killings stopped. Until then, everything pointed to you being Kira. But after two weeks, criminals actually began dying again. Based on that evidence, I can only conclude that Kira's power passes between people."

"That's an interesting idea. But if it's true, then it'll be nearly impossible to catch Kira."

"Yes, that's why I'm overwhelmed. Even if we catch someone under his control, they'll likely lose their powers and any memory of their crimes. So, in the end, pursuing them becomes futile."

"But at this point, we have no way of knowing if that's the case. Cheer up, would ya?"

"Cheer up? No, I'm sorry, I can't. It's probably better if I just stop trying so hard. By chasing Kira so desperately, we're just putting our lives at risk for nothing. Yes, it's just a waste of time."

I gape at Ryuzaki's confession. _'A waste of time? Dude! I feel almost insulted that you consider your chase after me a waste of time! I'm glad to know that I've slipped under your radar, and will continue to do so, but still!'_

Light looks at Ryuzaki, before standing up. "Ryuzaki…" He says, warningly.

Ryuzaki looks up, before Light punches him in the face, sending him flying across the room, and consequentially dragging Light after him because of the chain. Furniture is tipped over, and Misa squeals in surprise and fear.

Ryuzaki gingerly sits up. "Y'know, that really hurt…"

"That's enough!" Light scolds. "You don't feel like doing anything just because your genius deduction was wrong and I'm not Kira?!"

Ryuzaki wipes his sleeve across his mouth. "Fine, perhaps I phrased that the wrong way. I meant it would be pointless for us to make a move, so we shouldn't even bother."

"If we don't chase Kira, he'll never be caught! Is that what you want?! If you were just gonna give up, then why'd you involve all those innocent people?!" Light walks over to Ryuzaki, and hauls him up by the shirt. "More importantly, what was the point in putting Misa-chan and I behind bars?!"

"I understand." Ryuzaki admits, quietly, coldly, and dangerously. I tense in my chair, sensing danger. "But still, whatever the reason," Ryuzaki drops from Light's grip, and kicks him in the jaw, "an eye for an eye, my friend." Light pulls the chain taut from his free fall, and drags Ryuzaki after him.

"Idiots…" I mutter, before I stand, and bolt up the stairs.

"Mirai-chan, where're you going?" Matsuda calls after me.

"Knowing Light-kun, he'll punch back." I reason. "And knowing Ryuzaki-kun, he'll retaliate. If someone doesn't go interrupt them, this'll go on forever."

Without waiting for a response, I keep running up the stairs to the nearest elevator, and press the button for Misa's floor. I jump out of the elevator one it reaches her floor, and burst into the room they're in. By the time I open the door, both Light and Ryuzaki are gripping each other by the shirt, a fist pulled back and ready to punch. Without wasting a second, I rush over and slap both of them upside the head.

"What the hell were you thinking, you two?!" I scold. I first turn my wrath on Light. "Light-kun, it doesn't matter how stupid someone's being, you do not throw a punch. If necessary, throw a barbed word at them, but never throw a punch. This is how people get _arrested!_ " I then turn to Ryuzaki with the same glare I used on Light. "And you! Ryuzaki-kun, I'm sorry you're feeling depressed, but everyone gets something wrong at some point. Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean you get to give up! We've spent too much time and energy on this case to give up now! So suck it up, princess!" I smack both of them again for good measure, and walk over to Misa, who's been hiding behind an overturned table for the last few minutes. I stick on a much calmer, kinder face, and kneel next to her.

"Are you alright?" I ask, and she nods. I give her a hand to help her up. "I don't believe we've actually met. My name is Mirai Tsukino, it's a pleasure to meet you." I bow.

"I'm Misa Amane. It's nice to meet you, Tsukino-san." She bows too.

I force a friendly and pleasant smile. "Oh please, Mirai will work just fine. Since we're the only two girls here, we might as well be friends."

She smiles happily. "Okay then, Mirai-chan! Then you can call me Misa!"

I continue smiling at her, before I turn to the guys, where I drop it. "Now, you two, apologize to each other!" When they don't make a move, I stalk over to them, cracking my knuckles. "NOW!"

They quickly apologize, and I plaster on a smile again. "Good. Misa-chan, why don't we go to one of your other rooms and watch a movie while the boys clean this up?"

"What?! But Mirai-chan-" The guys protest.

"Hush. You two can join us when you're done. All I ask is that you flip and move the furniture back to their original positions, and put the dishes onto the coffee table. That's all, you should be done by the time we choose a movie and get it to start." They grumble their protests, but set about cleaning up. "Look, if you two don't want me playing Mommy, then don't force me into a position where I have no choice but to do so."

I follow Misa to her entertainment room, and let her pick out the movie. She picks a Romantic Drama, one I couldn't care less for, but I nod along anyway. Just before we press play, Light and Ryuzaki walk into the room. Light sits in the middle, between Misa and Ryuzaki, and I sit on Ryuzaki's other side.

I watch the movie with barely contained disinterest, ignoring Misa cuddling with Light, Light trying to ignore her, and Ryuzaki barely keeping his comments on the movie's realism to himself. Eventually, I give up on reality, and try to contact the voice in my head. Yes, I am that bored.

' _Hey, hello in there!'_ No response. _'Hello? Heya! Greetings! What's up? How's it hanging? Sup, brochacho-'_

' _Oh dear sweet merciful god, will you_ please _shut up?!'_

' _Ha-ha! A response! Can you respond again?'_ No answer. I shrug it off, and let my mind wander for the remaining hour. Once the movie finishes, I stand up and stretch. "Well, that was enough of a break. Back to work!"

"Aww, Mirai-chan, do you have to?" Misa pleads.

I slap on a sympathetic face. "Sorry, Misa-chan, but I'm here to help catch Kira. How about tomorrow, the two of us can do something fun together!" Fake cheer drips from my voice, but she doesn't notice.

"That sounds great, Mirai-chan!" She agrees, and I end up abandoning the guys to their fates with Misa.

Back at the main room, I collapse onto the couches, before grabbing and scanning over a file.

' _Let's see… If we can catch this new Kira, we might be able to throw off some suspicion from Light-kun. What did Ryuk tell me? That Rem had taken Misa-chan's Death Note and was going to give it to someone who would use it for personal gain… Something like that, wasn't it? Let's see…'_

I let my thoughts continue on that train for the rest of the day.

I get home, and call goodnight to my parents, before sneaking into the kitchen, grabbing several apples, and bringing them to my room, Ryuk in silent pursuit. Once inside the sanctity of my own room, I leave the apples on my desk for him, before grabbing my pajamas and heading to the shared bathroom to change. I soon crawl into bed, and promptly fall asleep.

I'm awoken from my peaceful slumber by Ryuk shaking me harshly and yelling my name.

"Mirai! Mirai, wake up!" He screams in my ear.

I wave him off me, stretch and yawn, before I ask calmly, "What is it, Ryuk?"

He doesn't respond to me, rather, he points to my open doorway, which is currently engulfed in flames. The sight gets me to jump out of bed, grab an old, framed picture of Miyoko and I, an overstuffed notebook detailing some of my "constructively aggressive" artworks, and all the pages of the Death Note I had ever gotten, and go to jump out the window.

When I pause at the windowsill, Ryuk starts panicking behind me. "C'mon, Mirai! Move it!"

I stand still a moment longer, trying to think of a way to hide the pages without risking someone else finding them. Suddenly, it hits me, and I take off the back of the picture frame, place all five pages of the Death Note behind the picture, before replacing the back and securing it.

Now ready to leave my burning room, I pray for that demon to take over my body again and give me their athleticism, and jump out the second story window. During the fall, my mind processes the fact that Ryuk had gasped just before I jumped. I hit the ground feet-first, and bend my legs to absorb the shock, before jumping three feet into the air to rid myself of it. I turn around to see Ryuk fly out of my window, and land next to me.

Something occurs to me, and I ask, "Ryuk, why did you bother waking me up? You could've just left me to die."

He laughs. "If you died tonight - you weren't supposed to, don't worry -" he reassures me at seeing my suddenly scared expression, "it would've left me with no one to entertain me until Light got his memory back."

I stand straighter at the new information, and try to prod for more. "And how would Light-kun get his memory back?"

"He'd just have to obtain ownership of another Death Note. That's all."

"Interesting…" I trail off, and walk to the street, inhumanely calm after jumping out of a burning building. I glance around, but don't see either of my parents. So I shrug, and wait a minute. As I wait, I think.

' _I wonder if someone's already called the fire department.'_

Two minutes.

' _They're sure taking their time in getting out.'_

Three minutes.

' _Was the fire alarm even working? I don't hear any blaring…'_

My eyes widen as I come to a terrifying realization.

' _Mom and dad are still in there, and I don't think they know to come out.'_

Without a word to the growing mob of neighbors around me, or even to Ryuk, I burst into a full sprint as I run back inside.

I hear him call after me. "Mirai, wait, you idiot! Don't go back in there!"

Ignoring him, and everyone else, I burst through the front door, and start to choke and cough violently on the smoke. I cover my mouth and nose with the front of my pajama shirt, and run upstairs to my parents' room. However, the door is jammed, and the flames are licking closer to it. I let the demon take over, and they help me brace myself against the opposite wall, before jumping, and using both feet to kick down the door. It gives with some difficulty, but falls, nonetheless. As the smoke grows more intense, I drop to the floor, and army crawl into the bedroom.

The smoke hangs over me in thick clouds, and I struggle not to breathe in too much. I make my way to the bed, where I kneel to see over it, but I don't see either of my parents' forms, just the mussed blankets, thrown out of the way in haste. I drop down to the floor again, and scan the room around me. The smoke is quickly getting closer to the ground, and I don't see either of my parents.

"Damn it!" I curse, before coughing again. "They have to be downstairs, then."

I army crawl out of the room and into the hallway as fast as I can, the smoke growing closer and closer to the ground. I finally make it to the stairs, and slide down, head-first. Not a great idea, but I don't exactly have the time to think of a better way in my tired, stressed, and partially-delirious-from-the-smoke state.

I reach the bottom with little difficulty, but the smoke has gotten even worse down here than it was before, not to mention the heat, it's like being in the center of a furnace. I steel myself, and make my way to the living room. I'm in the middle of the hallway, army crawling, when a large, wooden beam crashes down directly on top of me, effectively pinning me to the floor.

I then see Ryuk run into my field of view, and when he catches sight of me, he panics. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, Light told me to protect her, and I go and let her get caught under a burning beam. He's never gonna give me an apple again! Hold on, Mirai, I'll go drag the firemen here if I have to!"

"No!" I call out, before choking. "You can't let anyone else know about your presence! The firemen will find me on their own! For now, I just need you to go and hide out for a while, go to the Shinigami world or something, but I can't have you hanging around me in the hospital, people may get suspicious, and then they'll suspect me of being Kira, too! Alright? Just go!"

Ryuk nods, before he runs off, and I analyze my situation _. 'I'm trapped under a support beam, in my burning house, without anyone knowing where I am. Am I dying? Possibly.'_

Burning debris rains down around me, and I duck my head to avoid most of it. The smoke starts to get to me, and my vision starts to go black. I begin to struggle to hold onto consciousness until the firefighters find me, and I can hear their truck directly outside. I fight a losing battle, clawing to keep myself awake until the firefighters see me.

Suddenly, one of them runs into the hall, directly in front of my field of view, luckily without Ryuk dragging him. I cry out, "Help! Over here!" Before breaking into a coughing fit. The black borders around my eyesight get thicker and thicker, before I black out completely.

I pry open my eyes to inspect my surroundings. There's not much to see, just a lot of mist and fog. "Hello?!" I yell out. "Is anyone there?!"

"Jeez, I'm right here, no need to shout." I hear a familiar, feminine voice scold me.

I tense. "You're the voice I've been hearing in my head."

"Shh, don't say that in front of other people, they'll think you've gone insane."

I twist and turn, trying to see where she is, but I see nothing other than the mist. "Where are you? No, scratch that, 'who are you' is the more important question."

"You already know who I am. At least, you know my name." She talks to me in a condescending tone, with a hint of a smirk.

"I've met a lot of people, and I'm terrible with names. Give me a hint?" I ask weakly.

She sighs, frustrated. "You've said it accidentally, not to mention seen what I've seen. Come on, you're one of the greatest minds in your world! This should be simple!"

"Said it accidentally… Seen what you've seen…" I echo, and I assume my classic thinking pose. "Accident, accident, accident…" My eyes widen. "Kiyohime! The name I accidentally used for my alias, when I meant to say Midori. It just… came out, naturally."

"Well duh, you've been hearing it a few times over the last few months."

"I've heard it in one of my dreams, before. The only information I got out of that, though, was that you have blood-red hair."

"Correct." A mane of red appears before me. "Would you like to see the rest of me?"

Suddenly timid, I respond. "Uh, okay…?"

Below the scarlet locks, a deathly-gray woman appears, with black sockets and small red lights for eyes. Although, ignoring those two facts, she looks… remarkably like me. Same facial structure, same body type, hell, even the same hairstyle. Though, she's wearing a tattered, torn, red silk dress in a dragon-scale pattern that ends at her ankles in shreds, and has white, bony spines running up and down her arms and back, continuing into the train of her dress, where they end two feet behind her. She also has two gray and black bat wings extending from her back, from either side of the talons. Two ribbon-like horns extend from her head, just above each ear, and trail behind her in still motion, not moving, yet appearing to. I turn my attention to her hands, like mine in shape, though covered in red scales, with long, sharp talons coming from each fingernail.

I gasp at her terrifying beauty and elegance, while she simply smiles, revealing razor sharp fangs, and places her right hand on her hip. "It's a pleasure."

I nod, no longer scared of her. "Likewise."

"We've got a lot to discuss, and a lot more to explain, and I don't like to explain anything twice. So sit down, and start listening." She sighs, running a hand through her hair.

"Let's start from the beginning, then." I sit down, lotus position, on the invisible floor below me, and Kiyohime kneels.

"Very beginning?" I nod. "Well, at least we have a few days to talk."

"What do you mean, a few days?"

"Oh, you're currently in a small, medically induced coma, and will be for the next… three days? That sounds about right."

"Uh… alright?" I shove away my panic, and get back on track. "So, beginning?"

"Right. Hold any and all questions until the end, alright?" I nod again. "Well, the day you were born was the day that I died and turned into a Shinigami. However, something happened and interfered with my soul's passage to the Shinigami world, and it sent me ricocheting back to the human world, and into your tiny body. At that point, I was only a partial Shinigami, and since you weren't four-hundred and eighty days old yet, I couldn't kill you. No other Shinigami could, either. So, that ruled out my escape by killing you. Your body tried to compensate for having two souls within it, as no human body is designed to contain more than one soul at a time, and so, it gained the ability to heal extraordinarily quickly when you were in control, and to not be hurt at all when I took control. And by take control, I mean take control of the body and its movements." She takes a deep breath and pause, before continuing.

"Years went by, and somehow, despite the abnormality of your incredible healing, your powers went unnoticed. About a year in, I tried to leave your body, but I couldn't fully escape as I was, and still am, strongly tied to you and your soul. I'm able to dwell within the Shinigami world for certain amounts of time, but I'll still be connected to you. You never heard my thoughts or saw the Shinigami world before because the worlds were practically separated. When that idiot, Ryuk, dropped his Death Note into your world, they became connected again. The more you saw my dreams and heard my thoughts, the stronger the connection between us grew. Up until about two weeks ago, I was still in the Shinigami world, but your body and soul had such a strong pull on me that I was pulled into your world, and your body." She takes another deep breath.

"At this point, seeing as how strongly attached you are to the Death Note and all the memories that came with it, I doubt I'll ever be able to leave."

"So, does that mean you'll live in my body with me… forever?" I ask, ignoring her rule about saving the questions.

"Almost forever. I've been told that you can't be killed by the Death Note or any human means of death at this point, and we have to wait for your time to be up before you can die. Once you die, I'm supposed to devour the body and merge our souls, which means we'll share a mind, not too different from what we have now."

"Huh. Interesting. So, when I die, I'll essentially become a part of you and become a Shinigami?"

"Most Death Note users become Shinigami anyway; you just have the bonus of already being one."

"So this means I'm practically invincible?"

"You'll still feel the pain, but nothing will kill you. You're too stubborn to die, anyway."

"Were you the one who protected me a few weeks ago from that guy who was going to rape me?"

"The fact that you asked that without any emotion is almost scary to me. But, yeah, I did."

"If I can't die before my numbers hit zero, then why did you bother?"

"The better mental and physical state you're in when you die, the more power I get from you. So… eat right and exercise daily!"

"Do other Shinigami pick on you for being connected to me?"

"You're sharp. I should've expected that, considering your ability to think ahead fifty steps. Yeah, Shinigami pick on me for being connected to a," She does air quotes with her hands. "'Useless, pathetic human.' Honestly, if any of them met you, they'd probably think you weren't useless."

"Uh, thanks…? So, have you been listening to me and my thoughts my entire life?"

"No, just a few times, mainly after Ryuk dropped his Death Note. I managed to usually tune you out, it became like background noise to me."

We fall into an odd silence. "So…" I try, "what do you do to pass the time?"

She pulls out a small box. "I have a deck of cards."

"Where'd you get that from?"

"Oh, your parents bought it for you a couple years ago. It's been sitting on your desk for ages, so I grabbed it once I got trapped in your body a couple weeks ago."

"Oh, I was wondering where that went. I was using it as my paperweight. Wait, where are we, anyway?"

"Your subconscious."

"How did you get a deck of cards from the real world into my subconscious?"

"DON'T QUESTION IT." She yells, voice completely serious.

I cringe back from her outburst, before settling back into my previous position. "So… cards?"

"Yeah. Go Fish? Poker? Blackjack? Rummy? I Doubt It? Strip Poker?"

"Okay, I have a nagging feeling that the dress you're wearing is made out of actual scales, and you aren't really wearing it, it's just a part of your body. So if we played Strip Poker, you'd pull the trick of, 'Oh, I'm already as naked as I can be.'"

"Well, you saw through that. I'll have to try harder."

"Let's just stick with Blackjack."

"Fair enough."

We play countless rounds of Blackjack, Kiyohime beating me more than I beat her.

"Dear god, is this what you've done all day, every day, for the last two weeks?" I cry out, falling onto my back after being defeated for the two-hundred-and-seventh time.

"Well, if you're bored, you could just summon up something else with your imagination." She suggests, making me shoot up from the ground.

"I can do that?!" I shout in surprise.

"Well duh, this is your subconscious. You can do whatever you want here."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"

"Meh, I saw no reason to tell you."

"We've been playing two-hundred and seventy-six consecutive games of this!"

"Only two-hundred-seventy-six? That's not that much. My record's five-thousand-four-hundred-twenty-one."

"What kind of attention spans do Shinigami have?!"

"Long ones. At least, I do. Some Shinigami are like squirrels, they see something new and chase after it."

"So… imagine and it shall appear?"

"Something like that."

I assume my thinking pose, close my eyes, and think of a bunch of paper and pencils. Not three seconds later, I open my eyes to see the aforementioned items floating in front of me. "That's-now that's just weird."

"You find out you were born with two souls, have incredible regenerative powers, can't be killed, and you find summoning objects in your subconscious weird?"

"Hey, I follow the lesson of 'Let impossible things become logical' to the letter. Certainly makes life easier, without all the freak outs. I let the little things slip by that rule, though, keeps life interesting."

"Alright then. So, paper and pencils?"

"Drawing. Might as well pass the time in a variety of ways."

Two days, twenty elaborate drawings of a stylized Light and I ruling the world, five card castles, millions of Lucky Stars, and four original violin compositions later, the world around me, including Kiyohime, starts to fade.

I freak out. "Kiyohime! What going on?"

"Relax, moron, you're just waking up. Be sure to kill lots of criminals!" She calls back, both reassuring and belittling me at once.

"You're an ass, you know that?"

"I get that a lot!"

We both laugh as my misty subconscious around me fades away, along with my new friend.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

' _Dear god, I will destroy whatever machine is making that horrific noise.'_

"I think she's waking up!" I hear a familiar voice exclaim, though I can't quite place it.

"It's about time." A second familiar voice says, much more calmly.

I pry my eyelids open, only to be assaulted by the bright whiteness of the hospital room, and I quickly squeeze my eyes closed again.

I feel someone nudge my shoulder, and I crack open an eyelid again, barely enough to see Light standing over me.

"Wha-" I start, my voice horrifically scratchy and weak from lack of practice.

"Don't talk, your throat and vocal chords are damaged from the smoke." Someone else reasons with me, and a glance shows me it's Ryuzaki.

"Drink this, it'll help with the dryness of your throat." Light nudges a glass of water to my lips, and I gulp it down in one breath.

"Thanks." My voice is still scratchy, but a bit better.

"No problem." He puts the glass on the stand next to me.

A nurse then comes in, and gives me a smile. "Hello, sweetie. How're you feeling?"

"Like I was hit by a bus. Then the bus exploded on top of me." I admit bluntly, not bothering to be nice.

She laughs, though. "That's an understandable feeling, sweetie. You were trapped under a burning support beam for a while, before the firemen were able to lift it off you." She turns to Light and Ryuzaki. "Would you two mind waiting outside while I check her vitals?"

"Oh, sure." Light stands up, and with one last relieved glance at me, he leaves the room with Ryuzaki.

"Such a sweet boyfriend you have." She remarks with a smile.

"Wh-what?!" I exclaim, my face now burning. "L-Light-kun's not my b-boyfriend!"

The nurse is smirking now, as she checks the machines. "Then, is the other one your boyfriend?"

"N-no! R-Ryuzaki-kun isn't my boyfriend, either!"

She laughs outright, and after a moment, I join in. "My name is Hikari Nakamura. I'll be your nurse for the duration of your stay, Tsukino-san." She introduces herself after finishing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nakamura-san."

She smiles again, warmly, before going to the door and looking out. "You can come back in, now." Light and Ryuzaki come back in, and Hikari smiles at me again, before leaving. Light decides to sit on the chair nearest to my hospital bed, while Ryuzaki takes the second nearest.

"Where am I?" I ask the classic questions you're supposed to ask after you wake up in a new place. "What happened?"

"You're currently in Sakakibara Memorial Hospital, and we were hoping you could tell us what happened." Ryuzaki says calmly, as Mr. Yagami leads in the rest of the task force, including Misa. Luckily, she stays quiet.

"I…" I trail off. _'Damn it, lie lie lie lie lie…'_ "I woke up in the middle of the night from the smoke. I left my door open, so it flooded in. I grabbed a picture of my sister and I, and a drawing book, and climbed out the window. I then went to the street to wait for my parents, but after five minutes, I realized that they were still inside, possibly trapped or not even aware of the fire, as the fire alarm hadn't gone off. So, I did what any moron would do, and I charged back into the house. They weren't in their bedroom, so I went to check the main room, but… while I was in the hallway… a support beam fell on top of me, pinning me to the floor. I was trapped there for twenty, thirty minutes, before a fireman came. After that, I blacked out, then woke up here. How long was I out?"

"About three days." Ryuzaki replies, again calm. "These were retrieved from the street outside your house." He passes me the picture and the notebook, placing both of them on the stand next to the water glass.

"Do you have any idea about what caused the fire?" I ask bluntly.

"Apparently, it was started by faulty wiring." Aizawa explains. "It started somewhere on the first floor."

"And what about my parents? Where are they?" Everybody looked away, none of them willing to meet my eye.

I pale considerably, but still laugh. "Heh, guys, seriously, where are my parents?"

The silence in the room becomes unbearable, but Mr. Yagami decides to break it. "I'm sorry, Mirai-san. Your parents didn't make it out."

My eyes widen in horror. "What…?"

"They were trapped on the first floor, the smoke got to them first." He admits sadly, avoiding my eyes.

Tears rise unbidden to my eyes, and I cover my face with my hands. "No, they can't be dead! They can't be…" A sob escapes, followed by several more. "How could I have let them… it's all my fault… if I'd been faster, then I could've saved them… I shouldn't be alive… I should've died with them… I should be dead!" My tearful cries overwhelm me. "I should have died…"

The others just let me cry it out, something I'm grateful for.

"What'll I do now?" I ask out loud, more to myself. "I have nothing anymore, only a picture and a notebook, no home, no family, not even the clothes on my back." I laugh bitterly.

"You can always move into headquarters, Mirai-chan." Ryuzaki offers, using an extremely kind tone I've never heard him use before. I can only nod, my voice having left me.

Misa comes over, and sits on another nearby chair. "I lost my parents too, Mirai-chan." I push away my hatred for her, and look up at her. "They were both killed in a robbery about a year ago. I know how you feel right now, like there's nothing left to live for." I start to dislike her a little less, but then she continues. "Maybe if you keep going, you'll find your soulmate, like I found Light-kun!" _'Oh? Excuse me, positive feelings towards Misa-chan? Yeah, just let me stab you a few times… and… dead.'_

' _Now, how much do you want to do the same to Misa?'_ I hear Kiyohime snark, and I keep my face neutral.

' _Quite a lot, actually. It would bring me great pleasure.'_

' _Pfft, sadist.'_

' _You can respond to my thoughts more than once?'_

' _Well, since we met in your subconscious, our connection's a lot stronger.'_

' _So, you'll be able to make snide remarks whenever you want now?'_

' _I prefer the term witty.'_

Hikari comes back in. "Excuse me, but could you all step outside? I need to discuss some things with Tsukino-san." The task force files out, but when Light and Ryuzaki hesitate, she smiles. "You two can stay, as I assume you're the closest thing to family that Tsukino-san has." They nod, and sit down again, while Hikari closes the door, and sits next to me.

"Now, Tsukino-san, I believe they have told you about your parents?" I nod. "I'm truly sorry for your loss." She looks apologetic, so I nod again. "Now, about your injuries…" She pulls out a clipboard and chart.

I hear Kiyohime curse. _'Damn it!'_

' _What?'_

' _You heal extraordinarily fast, moron! If you have anything major, they'll be onto you! Do you want to be experimented on?!'_

I suppress my sudden anxiety, and pay attention to Hikari. "Now, from what we have here, you're suffering from smoke inhalation, a broken spine and fractured pelvis, and a large second-degree burn throughout the majority of the lower back." She turns her attention to me. "You shouldn't be alive right now. The smoke inhalation alone should have killed you, due to the extended time you were in the fire. The broken spine will have paralyzed you from the waist down, and the burn, had they not pulled you out of the fire soon enough, could easily have, to put it bluntly, fried your insides and killed you. You are a miracle."

' _Goddamn it, you moron, you just_ had _to run back into the burning building, didn't you?!'_

' _You can scold me later, when there aren't other people around!'_

"I don't feel like a miracle." I groan out, before everything she said processes. "Wait, did you say I'm paralyzed from the waist down?"

"You're likely to be paralyzed from the waist down, at least. It's highly unlikely that you'll ever walk again." She admits, not sugar-coating it.

"Is that so? Is it impossible for me to walk again in my condition?"

"Many would so say, yes. Where would you happen to be going with this?" Hikari inquires.

' _Well, Kiyohime? Will I heal from paralysis?'_

' _Oh my god, you're screwed.'_

' _I'll take that as a yes.'_

I take this as a challenge to distract me from my grief. "I'll walk again. It's only impossible unless it's done."

Kiyohime laughs sarcastically from my subconscious. _'Considering you and your idiotic drive to prove people wrong, it'll take less than a week. I give it three days to get you up on your feet, and two more after that to have the feds on your tail.'_

' _That almost sounded like you have faith in me, Kiyohime.'_

' _Don't flatter yourself.'_

She raises an eyebrow at me. "Well, I wish you the best of luck with that." She flips a page on her clipboard. "Now, just as a warning, a social worker and a lawyer will be coming by sometime this week to discuss your living arrangements and insurance, so you have that headache to look forward to." She looks at me with a softer gaze. "For now though, just get plenty of rest. I'll check in on you later."

"Thank you." I call out after her as she leaves, and I quickly settle back into silence. Ryuzaki and Light stay with me, talking about a number of subjects to each other, all the while trying to get me to talk, but I don't respond to anything.

The day passes without me noticing, and I eventually fall asleep, though not before I see Light and Ryuzaki asleep in their chairs. I show a small smile, grateful for their loyalty. _'Daww, they're like little loyal puppies.'_

' _You compare your two friends to dogs? Aren't you the nicest person in the world.'_ Kiyohime snipes sarcastically.

' _Pot calling the kettle black.'_ I stifle a snicker, before drifting off.

The next day passes much like the first, Hikari comes in to check my vitals, Ryuzaki and Light try to include me in conversation, and I plot on how to walk again.

I wiggle my toes experimentally. When that works fine, with minimum pain, I move on to my ankles. Another success, albeit with more pain, and I move onto my knees. I can bend my legs a little bit, but the pain grows to a point where I stop trying for the day.

The third day comes, along with a social worker.

"Now, regarding your living conditions, as you are not yet legal age, you cannot live on your own without written consent from your parents or guardian. However, given the situation, you are permitted to rent an apartment, provided you can afford it. What are your plans?"

"I'll be moving in with a few friends of mine."

He gathers some more various information, and leaves. Once he's gone, Ryuzaki turns to me. "So, does this mean that you'll be moving into headquarters?"

"It seems to be the best option for me, unless the invitation is no longer valid?" I leave my voice clear of almost any emotion.

"Of course it isn't, you're still welcome to move in." Light responds, slightly happier that I'm talking again.

I spend the rest of the third day talking to the pair of them, and attempting to move my legs again, with greater success than before.

The lawyer shows up on the fourth day.

"I'll make this simple, your parents had house insurance, life insurance, the whole deal. So, including everything, the insurance company owes you about… a hundred-twenty-seven million yen."

My eyes widen to the size of dinner plates.

"Add that to the goose egg your parents left for you in case this ever happened, and you're a very wealthy young woman. Congratulations, Tsukino-san."

I blank out for the rest of the day, just moving my legs to the point where it's obvious that they're healed.

Day five doesn't bring another visitor, but it does have me taking a couple steps around the hospital room, and I persuade Light and Ryuzaki to help me get used to walking again. When Hikari comes in, she practically shoves the boys out so she can change the bandages around my back and stomach, during which, she scolds me for being out of bed with a broken spine and pelvis, though she backs off when I tell her that I haven't felt any pain in days.

She brings in a few mirrors to show me my back, but she gasps when she finally unwinds the bandages. Apparently, the burn had healed extremely quickly, leaving quite a lot of scar tissue, though far too fast to be normal.

"It's another miracle!" She shrieks.

Day six is full of x-rays on my lower back, and all the doctors agree with Hikari's proclamation of a miracle, as all the fractures have healed completely. Ryuzaki and Light are by my side throughout all of it.

Day seven brings Matsuda and Misa with a change of clothes for me, a simple sweater and leggings, and I'm released from the hospital. Watari drives all of us back to headquarters, and we split off into our own individual groups. Ryuzaki, and consequentially Light, decide to lead me to the apartments floor, and they guide me to one in particular.

They show me around the flat, pointing out the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom, before they decide to leave me be. Ryuzaki closes the door behind them, and the full brunt force of everything that's happened in the last week hits me like a train. I stumble, almost drunkenly, to the bedroom, struggling to hold back tears. I turn off all the lights, close all the blinds and doors, and sit on the bed, head in my hands, just as the waterworks start.

I hear a knock on the door, but I don't bother getting up to answer it. They enter anyway, and quickly make their way to me, shedding light into the darkened bedroom. They walk in, and sit beside me on either side of the bed. A quick glance informs me that the two intruders are Light and Ryuzaki, again. Light whispers carefully, as if talking to an injured animal, "Mirai-chan, what are you thinking about?"

I'm silent for a moment, letting tears fall silently down my face, while I choose my words carefully. "I-I never got to-to tell my p-parents that I w-was trying to p-protect th-the world." I choke out, between sobs and gasps, before finally collapsing onto Light, and letting it all out. Initially shocked, he slowly wraps his arms around me.

"Shh… It's okay… Everything's okay now…" He murmurs, trying to comfort me as I cry. They stay with me the rest of the day, and just let me cry, before I simply cry myself to sleep.

The next day, I wake up, tucked into the bed. I throw the covers off, quickly make the bed, brush out my hair, and go to the main area. The moment I step into the room, however, Misa blacks my path, smiling like the idiot she is. "Hey Mirai-chan, guess what!"

I try not to roll my eyes, and play along. "What is it, Misa-chan?"

"Today, you and I are going to go shopping all day to get you a new wardrobe!" She squeals.

I smile, trying not to feel infuriated. "That sounds great, Misa-chan! When do we leave?" _'Dear merciful god, I just want to get back to work!'_

She grabs onto my arm, and drags me out the door. "Right now! Come on, everyone already agreed, we are having a girls' day out!"

She drags me out to the waiting car, before taking me to five different malls and going into all of the stores, a spa for "mani-pedis", and a salon to get our hair and make-up done. By the time we're done, we're lugging about fifty bags each, it's about five o clock, I feel like a doll, and I'm ready to murder Misa with my bare hands.

On our way back to headquarters, I ask our driver to stop by my house ruins. Misa looks at me, concerned, but I try to reassure her that I won't have a breakdown. When we get there, all that remains is a burned out skeleton of the house, and a pile of rubble. I get out of the car, and walk to and through the ruins. I'm reminiscing walking through the living room, when my foot hits something metal. I lean down to examine it, and I pick up my mother's intricate silver collar, embedded with rubies, with a larger ruby hanging on a chain from the center, completely unharmed by the flames or smoke. _'This was my mother's treasure.'_ I think sadly to myself, as I put it on. I take one last look around to see if anything else survived the heat, nothing had, and I make my way back to the car.

Once inside, Misa immediately notices the collar. "What's that?" She asks, pointing.

I touch it reverently. "It was my mother's collar, and her personal treasure. My father bought it for her for their tenth anniversary, and she would wear it every chance she had."

"It's beautiful…" She fawns over it the rest of the way back to headquarters.

Once back, we drag everything up to my flat, and somehow manage to get everything inside. Misa then persuades me to watch a movie with her on her floor, in our pajamas, complete with popcorn and hot chocolate. I drift off mid-way through the movie, exhausted from everything today, while still wearing the collar.

Two months pass before I recall the lead Ryuk gave me, and I pass it on to Light. "Hey, do you think Kira's new puppet could be using their powers for their own gain?"

He raises an eyebrow at me. "What makes you think that?"

I shrug it off. "It's probably nothing, just… intuition."

A few hours later, my suggestion comes to fruition.

"Ryuzaki, I know you're not up to it, but come over here for a second." Light calls for his friend while typing, and I get up to look over Light's other shoulder. "Take a close look at this. It can't be coincidence." A chart is displayed on the screen. "All of them were prominent Japanese businessmen, CEOs whose companies are leaders in their respective industries, in just over a month, they all died of heart attacks." He pulls up a line graph. "As expected, there's been a general downturn in the market, with the exception of Yotsuba. In other words, their deaths have worked in Yotsuba's favour." Back to the chart. "Looking back, there've been thirteen similar deaths in the past three months. Your thoughts?" He turns to Ryuzaki. "Based on this, I can only conclude that Kira is supporting Yotsuba."

"It could be, but if what you're saying is true, we can assume that punishing criminals is not this Kira's intent." Ryuzaki agrees.

Light nods, and turns back to the screen. "Right, punishing criminals is a diversion for him. It obscures the fact that he's actually killing people for the benefit of his company."

I assume my thinking pose, and conclude, "It's unlikely that this new Kira would choose to back any particular company, so he is either being bribed by them to kill for them, or works there, possibly-no, probably as one of the higher-ups."

Light smirks towards Ryuzaki. "Are you feeling a bit more motivated?" Ryuzaki simply smiles, and doesn't respond.

We investigate further into the possibility of Kira being in Yotsuba, when Mr. Yagami and Mogi return.

"Hey chief!" Matsuda calls out, "Oh, you too, Mogi! I've got some great news! This is amazing, I'm not even sure how they figured it out, but Light-kun and Mirai-chan have a theory that Kira is somehow involved in the Yotsuba group! Can you believe it?"

"Yotsuba?" Mr. Yagami questions.

"Uh, yes." Matsuda replies, now unsure.

Mr. Yagami rests a hand on his shoulder. "That's probably it. Good work." He's silent for a moment, before continuing. "We just spoke with the director, and it seems Kira has offered bribes to a number of politicians. As well, if the NPA doesn't pursue him, then he won't kill any of them." He looks down. "So that's that. The police caved into him."

We all gasp in disbelief. _'That's all it would've taken? Threaten some people and they'll leave you alone? Why did you use that?!'_ Kiyohime asks me, outraged.

' _Simple. Because I'm above threatening innocents.'_

"Mogi and I have already made up our minds on this." Mr. Yagami continues. "Aizawa, Matsuda, if you wish to continue working this case, you'll have to hand in your letter of resignation to the NPA, just as Mogi and I are going to do. Like it or not, you cannot pursue Kira as a member of the police force anymore."

"H-hold on a second, chief!" Aizawa objects.

"They made it quite clear." Mr. Yagami admits. "If you continue to work with L, you'll be fired. That's all there is to it."

"So, then, chief, you're gonna…" Matsuda trails off.

"In a few hours, I'm no longer going to be your chief." Mr. Yagami finishes. "However, we all have our own lives. So think it over carefully."

"That's true, chief. Especially if you have a family to support." Matsuda agrees.

"If you want my opinion, you'd be better off as police officers." Ryuzaki advises. "I was alone when I started this case, although I'm grateful to all of you for staying with me for as long as you have, I know that I can do this by myself. I'll be sure to visit you at the department and bring you Kira's head as a reward for all that you've sacrificed."

"Ryuzaki, as long as I'm alive, you won't be working alone!" Light declares. "You have my word on that."

I smirk, and jump on the bandwagon. "Don't think you can get rid of me so easily either, Ryuzaki-kun. I'll do everything I can to help you bring him to justice!"

"Hmm, that's right; I'll have Light-kun and Mirai-chan with me until I catch Kira, so I won't be alone after all. But as I said, I think the rest of you should remain as police officers."

"But when you first contacted us, you said you would need the help of the police to solve this case!" Mr. Yagami objects.

"That's because the police as an organization were still hoping to arrest Kira, they weren't bowing to him. Besides, with all due respect, there's a big difference between the help of two or three civilians and the police as an organization. As you said, the police have made their position clear, they don't want to catch Kira, so let's just leave it at that." Ryuzaki explains.

"Well, I suppose what you're saying makes sense." Mr. Yagami understands. "If we're not police officers anymore, we won't be of much use to you. However, we're all personally involved in this. All of us have risked our lives to catch Kira, doesn't that give us the right to decide whether we stay here or return to the police force?"

"Good point." Ryuzaki nods. "Then by all means, please, make your decision."

"But chief, wait, if you quit your job with the police force, you'll be unemployed." Aizawa reasons. "Even if we do catch Kira, what're you gonna do after that?"

"After that? I haven't really thought of it, but I suppose, after we catch Kira…" Mr. Yagami grins. "I'll have to dust off my résumé."

"Count me in!" Matsuda agrees, brightly. "I'm gonna quit the police and chase Kira too, chief! And I still have my job as Misa-Misa's manager! Besides, if I stayed on as a police officer, I'd feel like a total loser!"

"Think before you open your mouth, Matsuda." Mr. Yagami scolds.

Aizawa debates with himself, before he asks, "Is there any way I could keep my job and help you in my spare time?"

Ryuzaki eats a cherry, before he responds. "There isn't. If you remain a police officer, then please don't come back here."

"But you know I won't leak any information-"

"I won't be sharing any of our information. You're free to pursue Kira on your own, if you want to. But I don't think it's fair to your families by giving up your livelihood just to continue this. I can't see how that's a good idea."

"It's as Ryuzaki says." Mr. Yagami agrees. "No one here is going to blame you for quitting."

"Yeah, right. We all understand why you've got to do this." Matsuda encourages.

"But the chief has a family, too." Aizawa struggles to get out.

"Our situations are completely different." Mr. Yagami reassures.

"Dammit. To leave now, after all we've been through. I said I was prepared to die, if that's what it took to catch him, and I meant it. What kind of friend would I be to Ukita if I quit now? I became a detective so I could catch the bad guys, not run away!" Aizawa cries out.

"Ryuzaki," Watari's signature appears on the screens. "Early on in the investigation, you specifically told me that if a task force member were to lose their job, under any circumstances, I was to make preparation to ensure that their families' financial future was secure. If you recall, a trust was set aside for that very purpose. I'm a little curious as to why you're withholding this information."

We all look at Ryuzaki in various degrees of shock. "This is not the time or place, Watari." He advises.

"I'm sorry." Watari apologizes.

"No way!" Matsuda exclaims. "So all this time, we had nothing to worry about? I can't believe you did that!" He turns to Aizawa. "There you go, Aizawa, isn't that great news?"

He pauses when he sees Aizawa's expression. "Ryuzaki, I assume that was some kind of test to determine how committed I was to this task force." He remarks angrily.

"It's not like that, Aizawa. Ryuzaki's just not the type to say things directly, you should know that by now." Mr. Yagami tries to calm him down.

"No." Ryuzaki objects. "I was testing you. I wanted to see which one you would choose."

"Fine then. If I wasn't sure before, then I am now." Aizawa decides. "Let's face it. I wasn't able to decide right away, like you guys. I was leaning towards going back to the police." Matsuda tries to dissuade him, but to no avail. "No, I quit! Now I know this for sure, I've always hated Ryuzaki. I hate him and his way of doing things!" He goes to storm out.

"That's too bad, because I like you, Aizawa." Ryuzaki admits, quietly.

"I also hate the way you've always got to have the last word! You insult me, now you say something like that?! That's it, I'm out of here!"

"Thank you for everything…"

I look at Ryuzaki, concerned. _'I guess, in his mind, he just lost a friend…'_

A few days later, Light has another breakthrough. "I just found another one." Light calls out. "A general manager of a bank, Yotsuba's biggest competitor, on September seventh, he slipped on the front steps of his house and died, instantly."

"September the seventh was a Friday, wasn't it?" Mr. Yagami asks. "After going over this again, I noticed something, all the deaths that are beneficial to Yotsuba, are concentrated around the weekends."

"Huh? On the weekends?" Matsuda clears up.

"With the first few victims, the time of death seems to have been random, more recently, they all seem to take place between Friday night and Saturday afternoon."

"I'm amazed that you even noticed that, chief." Matsuda praises.

"Matsuda, I thought I told you to stop calling me chief."

"I'm sorry, but you'll always be the chief to me."

"This is a really important clue, dad!" Light praises. "Nice work!"

"Well, you know, I can't let myself fall behind you, Ryuzaki, and Mirai-chan. After all, the last thing I want is to be dead weight." Mr. Yagami explains.

We're all silent for a moment, before Ryuzaki questions, "Is Kira someone from Yotsuba? Or is Kira simply using Yotsuba? I haven't figured it out yet, but we'll proceed under the assumption that this is Kira's doing. We will focus on Yotsuba."

Mogi brings in a large stack of papers. "This is all of the Yotsuba group's employees." He sets it down next to Ryuzaki.

"Thank you very much." Ryuzaki says as he drags the towering stack in front of him.

"That's three-hundred-thousand people." Light appreciates. "How did you put this together so quickly? That's amazing, Mogi-san!"

"He's been incredible efficient from the start." Ryuzaki nods.

"Ryuzaki!" Matsuda stands up. "Please tell me, is there anything I can do to help with the investigation, besides the manager thing?"

"So, you really want to be useful?"

"Yes!"

"Then, could you get me another cup of coffee?" I bite back a snicker. Ryuzaki gestures to the couches. "And for our guests there, as well?"

We all turn to the couches, and the two people there wave.

"Hold on a second, who let them in?" Light asks.

"Those two are the newest members of the task force." Ryuzaki explains.

"The name's Aiber." The blonde man says with a smirk. "I'm a con man, how's it goin?"

"I'm Wedy, and I'm a thief by trade." The woman introduces herself.

"A con man and a thief." Mr. Yagami summarizes.

"That's right." Ryuzaki nods. "Aiber is a life-long con man, his unparalleled social skills allow him to befriend and gain the trust of any target. We'll use him for infiltration. As for Wedy, she's a thief who specializes in cracking high-end security systems. As proof of that, she was able to enter the building without setting off a single alarm."

"You expect us to work with criminals?" Mr. Yagami asks, irritated.

"Yes, that is correct, however, these two have never once been caught, so it's unlikely they'll be killed by Kira. Think of them as professionals of the underworld."

"I understand." Light nods. "To investigate Yotsuba, we're going to need the help of people like this. Let's all do our part, and make this happen, okay?" We all voice our agreements.

I go into a corner to lean against the wall and think. _'So, Ryuzaki-kun is willing to use criminals to get what he wants? I wonder, would he be willing to become a criminal in order to bring about justice? Interesting…'_

 **IT'S OVER. IT'S DONE. 24 PAGES, 10 000 WORDS, I'M JUST SO DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER.**

 **Seven thousand of those words were original, and not the actual anime. My original plan had me combine Ally and Matsuda, but nooooo, what was meant to be no more than four thousand turned out to be seven thousand.**

 **So… Kiyohime. Second soul. I ended up writing her lines after I watched all of the SAO Abridged series, so I accidentally modeled her after their Kirito. AKA, she's gonna be a heartless bastard, eventually. Let's roll with it!**

 **Until the next time, and onto the next chapter!**


	13. Matsuda

Another day, another fifty files to flip through. Ever since I proposed that the higher-ups at Yotsuba could be Kira, I'd taken it upon myself to investigate them. So far, the only things that have stuck out to me are their ages. They're all in their early thirties to mid-forties, rather young to be leading a company as large as Yotsuba.

I lay the file down on the coffee table in front of me to stretch. I take a glance around the room, and see Light staring intensely at Ryuzaki, obviously trapped in thought. Ryuzaki notices, and asks, "What's wrong? You've been staring at me for the last two minutes. Wait, let me guess. You must be annoyed because I'm the only one eating cake at the moment, am I right?"

"Uh, no, that's not it." Light replies, having been snapped out of his stupor. I watch the exchange with mild amusement.

"Here." Ryuzaki holds out his plate to Light.

"Really, don't worry about it." Light denies.

Watari's signature flashes on screen. "Ryuzaki."

"Yes? What is it?"

"Detective Eraldo Coil has just received a private request to investigate and reveal the identity of L." This catches everyone's attention, and we all make our way to Ryuzaki's computer.

"Isn't Eraldo Coil supposed to be the second greatest detective in the world, after L himself?" Mr. Yagami asks. "Who on earth would send such a request?"

The screen changes to an info sheet. "The man who sought out Coil's services is Masahiko Kida, the head of the rights and planning department of the Yotsuba group's headquarters in Tokyo."

"So it is Yotsuba." Mr. Yagami concludes.

"We know that Yotsuba must be linked to Kira, if they're trying to find out L's identity, it's probably because they want to kill him, and need that information to do it." Light adds.

"This isn't good." Mr. Yagami worries. "We're already shorthanded enough as it is, and now we have to worry about Coil, too."

"It's quite alright." Ryuzaki reassures, and I finally catch up with him.

I smirk. "You brilliant man." I mutter under my breath, and luckily, no one hears me.

"The detective known as Eraldo Coil is me." Ryuzaki continues. "It's quite simple, really. Three of the greatest detectives in the world, L, Coil, and Deneuve, they're all actually me. It's been my experience that people who try to find me usually fall for this." He picks up the strawberry from his plate, and turns to me. "I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret, okay?" Not knowing what else to do, I take the berry from him, and immediately eat it.

"I'm impressed as always, Ryuzaki." Light compliments.

"So, Yotsuba wants to know who you are." I summarize. "What's our plan?"

Ryuzaki thinks for a moment, almost going into my thinking pose. "We'll have Aiber pose as Coil and agree to their terms while setting a few of our own, and we'll have Wedy breach their security and override their camera feed so we'll have a clearer idea of what they're doing." I nod in agreeance. He calls Aiber and Wedy over, only to explain the plan again.

"Alright, I just have to get close to him, right?" Aiber asks for confirmation, and Ryuzaki nods. "Leave it to me."

"And… you want me to make sure we can breach security?" Wedy adds. "And override the security cameras in the Yotsuba's head office? Is that all?"

"Yes." Ryuzaki confirms. "At this point, it's safe to assume that Kira and the Yotsuba group are connected in some way. We're going to investigate Yotsuba to determine who holds Kira's power, and if there's more than one person who possesses this ability. We need a clear understanding, quickly." The entire taskforce, albeit Matsuda and Misa who are off filming some movie, quickly gathers around us. "We cannot let anyone from Yotsuba figure out that we are investigating them. Please realize that if they do notice, it means we won't be able to catch Kira. Please be sure not to act impulsively out of panic or haste. And don't take matters into your own hands."

Immediately after Ryuzaki says this, Watari's signature flashes onto Ryuzaki's screen again. "Ryuzaki."

"Yes, what is it?"

"I have just received an emergency signal from Matsuda's belt."

"Ugh, where is he?" Ryuzaki's distaste for this newest interruption isn't masked at all. _'I guess he must be sick of Matsuda-san's antics.'_

"It seems… that it's coming from within the head office of the Yotsuba group."

I restrain my laughter at the irony of the situation, and cover my face with my hands in grievance. _'Not three seconds after Ryuzaki-kun says not to alert Yotsuba, Matsuda-san does exactly that.'_

Ryuzaki gives out a long sigh. "Disregard everything I just said. We need to rethink our strategy." He spins his chair around and stares at the ceiling. "Matsuda, you _idiot_!"

"If we're going to get Matsuda out of the Yotsuba group HQ, we're going to need to know the situation." Light reasons. "Any ideas?"

We all look at one another for a few seconds, before I sigh. "We can always do the obvious and ask him over the phone."

"And how do you propose we do that? Yotsuba could be listening in on anything we say to him." Ryuzaki counters.

"We ask in code, to put it simply. I have an idea for what we could use, but…" I trail off, and my thoughts focus in on the idea. Vaguely, I register Kiyohime laughing her head off as she hears it.

' _Dear Shinigami King, I can't believe you thought of that! And here I thought you were innocent!'_

' _Shut it, Kiyohime. This isn't exactly something I_ want _to do.'_

"But…?" Light prods, and I sigh again.

"But… it isn't something I'd be comfortable doing, though I'm the only one who could do it." I explain, trying not to give them anything.

"Then what's the problem?" Ryuzaki asks, offering me a phone. "We're all going to have to step out of our comfort zones eventually, Mirai-chan."

"Oh dear god, I can't believe I'm doing this…" I snatch the phone from Ryuzaki's hands, dial Matsuda, and try not to scream at myself for my stupid plot.

Three rings later, he picks up. "Hello?" He asks tentatively.

I clear my throat, add in a slight Australian accent to my voice for good measure, and say in a seductive tone, "Hey, Taro, sweetheart, I thought you said you'd be home by now. Oh, is the shoot running long?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid the shoot's running late." He answers, still slightly tentative.

"Aww, that's too bad. How is our little supermodel? Is she with you right now?" I blatantly flirt.

"No, she's still filming."

I cover the microphone with my hand and quickly whisper to the others, "He's not with Misa-chan right now, he must be on his own." I quickly return to the phone with my tone and accent. "How much longer do you think the shoot will last, Muffin?" I throw in a random pet name, and know that I will regret this later.

"Oh, it's difficult to say, the director will be keeping me here for a while."

I turn to the others again. "He's stuck, can't get out on his own." Back to the phone, with my stupid seductive tone and accent. "Aww, that's too bad, I'll see you when you get home, big boy. Kiss kiss!" I made a kissy sound, before hanging up. I snap the phone closed, and chuck it at Ryuzaki, before storming up the stairs. I glance at the task force once, only to see Mr. Yagami's and Mogi's horrified expressions, Ryuzaki barely containing his laughter, and Light gaping and sputtering angrily. "This is to never be mentioned again." I growl out, before continuing on my way.

"Where are you going?" Ryuzaki calls out, a couple giggles getting out.

"To shower. That conversation made me feel dirty."

Thirty minutes later, I step out of the shower, dry off, and grab for my clothes, which are no longer there. A quick glance around the bathroom informs me that they aren't in here at all, that includes my mother's collar, and another glance shows me a small pile of light blue fabric, with a note resting on top of it.

I pick it up, and it reads, _'Mirai-chan, Misa-chan and I have come up with a plan to get Matsuda out of Yotsuba HQ. In order to get him out, we're going to need your help. What we need you to do is to entertain the Yotsuba leaders with Misa-chan and a few of her co-workers.'_ I crumple the note with great prejudice, before throwing it out. As there are no other clothes present for me to wear at the moment, and I really don't feel like walking out of this bathroom in only a towel, I change into the clothes that appeared, leaving me in a light blue turtleneck crop top with a heart-shaped viewing window, a matching light blue miniskirt, and thigh-high white stockings. I brush out my hair, before drying it and braiding a few locks on my right side, and proceeding to walk as calmly as possible to the main room.

When I walk in, Ryuzaki asks, "So, I presume you read the note?"

As calmly as I possibly can, I answer. "Yes, Ryuzaki-kun. I did."

"And you know what you need to do?"

"Yeah. I understand what you want me to do. Although…" A dark and evil aura surrounds me. "what I want to know is which one of you idiots decided to BREAK INTO MY BATHROOM?!" They all take a step back, Ryuzaki looks slightly scared, and Light looks like he's about to be killed. Having discovered the guilty party, I turn to them, and say in a low and dangerous voice, "I'll deal with you two later." I quickly slap on a cheerful façade. "Now, what exactly do you need me to do?"

I arrive at the hotel ten minutes later, where Misa introduces me to the other five girls, all dressed in outfits identical to mine, only in a rainbow of colours.

"Girls, this is Hime-chan!" She says, gesturing to me. I give a shallow bow, before I smile and wave as eagerly as I can possibly muster. "She'll be working with us for the reception tonight. Let's make her feel like she's one of us!"

They surround me, extremely friendly. _'It's almost sickening how nice they are. How can anyone be this perky?'_

' _Maybe it's because they're idiots. Oh no, wait, that's an established fact.'_

We gather in a semi-circle around the doorway, and wait for the Yotsuba higher-ups to join us. They walk around the corner, and we all chime out in unison, "Good evening! We're very pleased to meet you."

Misa walks out and takes charge. "Tonight, I'll be entertaining you as our special guests, along with the girls from the agency."

They stare at us for a moment, before one of them, Suguru Shimura, asks the others around him, "Hey, is it just me, or is this getting weird?"

"Well, it can't be helped." Shingo Mido responds. "Right now, we can't afford to leave Misa's manager alone for a second."

"Let's just go with it." Eiichi Takahashi decides. "I'm going to enjoy myself." He walks towards us with a smirk, and I try to hide my cringe. The others follow him, each choosing a girl to stay with. Behind them, Matsuda laughs nervously. My eyes meet his for the briefest of moments, before I give the slightest nod to him, and turn away.

After a while of staying a wallflower, I spy Reiji Namikawa standing away from the others, looking at them all in mild distaste. I adopt a knowing smile, and make my way over to him. "Not quite a sophisticated gathering, is it?" I ask once I've approached him. He gives me his attention, and I look around the room before I continue. "Scantily clad women flirting with men twice their age, hardly any of them intelligent. Not exactly something I'd like to spend my Friday night occupying myself with."

"I take it you're not here by choice?" He asks, actually sounding curious.

"No, I just joined the agency on Misa-chan's request, and they required me to be here." I smirk at him. "I don't believe you're here by choice either, am I correct?"

"You're perceptive." He nods, and gives me a small smile. I look back at the other room's occupants. "You're not like the others, are you?" He states, more than questions.

I give him an easygoing smile. "To me, that's a compliment." I glance around the room. "The girls are nice and all, but they sell themselves out far too easily. They would be better off if they could just stick to some basic values and principles."

He visibly relaxes. "You're far too intelligent to be a model, or are you simply trying to defy the stereotype?"

I chuckle quietly. "I suppose a bit of both. My parents were both killed in an accident some time back, leaving me without a home or job. Modeling at her agency was Misa-chan's first idea, and I can't say no to her without expecting some kind of repercussion."

Loud footsteps in the hallway outside catch our attention, and we both turn to the door. Matsuda quickly kicks it open, startling most of the girls. He stumbles in drunkenly, and slurs, "Wow, I'm so drunk…" If I wasn't within eyesight of these people, I would groan in annoyance at Matsuda's stupidity. He slowly and drunkenly makes his way to the balcony, slurring, "Hi everyone! Everyone having fun, good… that's great…" He opens the balcony door. "Now everyone, the moment you've all been waiting for, the Taro Matsui show!" He gets onto the balcony railing, ignoring the protests of everyone inside.

"Yay! You can do it, go Matsu!" Almost everyone. Misa decides to cheer him on. I simply stare at him, a well-faked air of nervousness around me.

"Alright, here we go…" He continues to slur, as he stands up and walks the railing like a tightrope.

"Hey, you're drunk, that's way too dangerous!" Suguru Shimura protests, going to the balcony door.

"Don't worry!" Matsuda reassures, still acting drunk. "I'm just fine, I do this all the time!" He places his hands on the railing, and leans into a handstand. _'Okay, now I'm worried. I took gymnastics when I was a kid, and I never saw anyone hold a handstand for long. Matsuda-san, you better do this in the right place, or else you really will be dead.'_

Several of the Yotsuba group members run up to protest. "It's alright!" Matsuda says, slightly strained. "No prob!" His right hand slips, and he falls off the balcony. His yell practically echoes, and I know that he only fell one floor onto a mattress waiting on the balcony of the room directly below this one, but the crack and splash sounding a few seconds later certainly sound real.

Several of the girls around me start screaming, and I try to look like I'm trying not to panic. Two of the Yotsuba group members, Shimura and Takahashi, rush to the balcony to see. I know that Aiber is lying on the ground in a convincing pose, wearing clothes identical to Matsuda, in order to trick them, so I keep my face slightly worried.

"Look everyone." Misa tries to mediate. "I think you should just leave this for us to take care of and go home."

"What? But-" Takahashi tries to object, but Misa interrupts him.

"Don't worry. We'll handle it. Just don't forget about me for your next campaign, okay?" Misa reassures.

"Let's go." Mido decides. "If the press sees us, we're in trouble." The eight executives file out, and Namikawa gives me a final quick glance before leaving. I help the other girls gather up the drinks, cups, and food, and wait for them to leave before going down a floor to check on Matsuda.

I leave with the rest of the task force, and ignore Matsuda's attempts at conversation, mainly out of embarrassment from the phone call. I instead use the time to scheme my revenge on Light and Ryuzaki for breaking into my bathroom. In order to implement my plans, for Light, at least, I'll need Misa's help.

We regroup back at headquarters, clap each other on the back as a symbol of a job-well-done, and I pull Misa aside to talk to her.

"Hey, Misa-chan, there's a favour I need to ask you." I ask her in a low voice once we're off in a corner.

"What is it, Mirai-chan?" She cocks her head to the side.

I show an evil smile. "I need your help to get revenge on Light-kun and Ryuzaki-kun. Namely Light-kun."

"Why? What did they do?"

"They broke into my bathroom while I was showering." She looks panicked, and about to yell, but I quickly shush her. "Shh, they'll hear, then they'll know that something's going on. Ryuzaki-kun was probably the only one to actually go in, but Light-kun was still an accomplice, and I want revenge. If you help me, I'll owe you a favour. Will you help me?" I don't want to be indebted to this bimbo, but I really need her help with this.

She smiles, and nods her head a few times. "Yeah! What do we need to do?"

A larger evil smile replaces the one from before. "How good are you at applying makeup to other people?"

At around three AM, Misa sneaks down to my room, where we gather up our supplies, before sneaking into Light and Ryuzaki's currently shared room. We tiptoe through the main room, and open their bedroom door silently. We walk over to Light's bed on the left side of the room, and quickly set about doing our work. Primer, foundation, concealer, bronzer, blush, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, eye liner, and mascara go on before we hear Ryuzaki whisper, "What are you two doing?"

We both freeze at our being caught. _'Damn it! I forgot that Ryuzaki-kun's an insomniac! Uh, excuse, excuse, excuse…'_ "Something you'll find extremely entertaining in the morning." I feel the words slide out of my mouth before I even realize that I said them. He nods slowly at us, before he lies back down.

We don't bother waiting, and return to our work. We add on the fixing powder, then do the lip balm, lip liner, lipstick, and lip gloss. In my three AM tiredness, I find myself blushing as I apply the lip products, and my eyes linger on Light's face.

' _Daww, you have a crush on a taken man! Watch out, sweetheart, people get killed for this!'_ Kiyohime taunts me.

I fight the blush that rises, though I'm not effective. _'I do not have a crush on Light-kun!'_

' _That's what they all say!'_ She cackles in the background as I lead Misa out of their room and back to her floor. After dropping off our products, we say our goodnights, and I return to my flat. In the kitchen, I set about baking, just to blow off some more steam from yesterday. Twenty normal cakes later, I create a single poisoned cake, made without sugar, and only salt. I decorate them all, and look at the clock, which reads eight AM.

I take the poisoned cake down to the main room, along with two normal cakes, and set the salty one down in front of Ryuzaki's computer, just as he and Light come down the stairs. My eyes widen as I look at Light, who hadn't washed the makeup off, before I burst out laughing. His eyes widen in realization, before he glares at me.

"You!" He cries, storming over to me. I can't stop laughing, the makeup we did was _perfect_. "You did this to me!"

Between laughs, I respond, "Yeah, I did! Oh god, Light-kun! It's just-just so _perfect!_ " I burst out laughing again.

"Why?!" He cries, exasperated.

"Because you decided to break into my bathroom while I was showering!"

"That wasn't my idea! Ryuzaki just dragged me along! Why didn't you do this to him?!"

"Cause Ryuzaki's an insomniac, and we couldn't do it to him while he was awake!"

"We?"

"Misa-chan and I."

"You dragged Misa-chan into this?!"

"I owe her a favour now."

"I give up!" Light walks past me, towards the computers. "Do you at least have something I can wash this off with?" I toss him a bottle of makeup remover, but he doesn't move to use it immediately.

Ryuzaki quickly cuts a piece of the poisoned cake for himself, before he asks, "Mirai-chan, did you make this?"

"Yeah…" I act sheepishly.

"In another one of your 'constructively aggressive' fits?"

"I had some steam to blow after yesterday's embarrassment!"

He shrugs, and takes a big bite, before freezing. I cackle evilly, before falling to the floor in giggles. "You know I'm conscious when I'm baking those, right? You didn't think you were off the hook for perving on me, did you?"

He sets his fork down, and turns towards me slowly. Taking this as my cue to run, I bolt out of the room, and run to my flat, locking and bolting the door behind me. I spend the rest of the day locked in my room, waiting for Ryuzaki to calm down. Later in the evening, I creep out of my rooms, and towards the main room, ready to sprint back to my flat should the need arise.

Ryuzaki and Light turn towards me, stand up, and walk over to me, and in unison, they say, "Mirai-chan, you are a very cruel person." I get into position to run, now extremely scared. "The pranks you pulled were very immature, and rather uncalled for. However," they bow to me, "we apologize for entering your bathroom without permission."

I bark out a laugh. "Idiots, the pranks were revenge for it. After I pulled them, we were even. However, since you apologized to me…" I bow to them. "Light-kun, I apologize for giving you a makeover while you were asleep, and Ryuzaki-kun, I apologize for giving you a salted cake." I stand. "There! Now we're all even, and we can get back to work."

I hear the other task force members give out a sigh of relief, as half of their team was no longer in some silly fight.

The next day, Matsuda asks the question I had hoped to never hear. "So, Mirai-chan, what was with the phone call you gave me while I was in Yotsuba?"

I tense up, and answer as neutrally as I can. "We needed information from you, and it was both the first thing I thought of and the most inconspicuous. End of story."

"But-" He tries to ask something else, but I interrupt him.

" _End. Of. Story._ " I over enunciate every syllable, and let a hostile tone enter my voice. He backs off, and the task force leaves me alone for the rest of the day, as I go back to my rooms to blow off some frustration.

Three hours later, I hear someone knock on the door, and ask, "Mirai-chan, are you alright?" Ryuzaki.

I yell out, "Don't come in!" just before he opens the unlocked door. "You'll knock over the west wing!"

"Wait, what?" I hear Light add in.

I feel slightly miffed still, so I yell out, "I did not spend the last three hours rebuilding the Hampton Court Palace out of cards just to have someone come in and knock it all over!"

"Hampton Court?!" I hear Ryuzaki yell in disbelief. "Wouldn't that have filled the entire room?"

"Yes, it did!"

"Then where are you now?"

"I'm in the Fountain Courtyard!"

"You're insane!" Light adds in.

"I know!"

After quite a lot of back and forth conversation, Ryuzaki opens the door, and does in fact knock over the west wing, which causes me to cry out in despair. "Three hours… wasted…." I mourn.

On Monday, Misa drags me with her to her photoshoot, and somehow convinces the team to get me into a similar outfit to Misa's, and get me to pose in front of the cameras with her. All day. By the end of the shoot, some intern comes along with a sheet I have to sign in order to give them permission to print the pictures. Exhausted from the day, I sign without reading it, and the each team member gives me a big smile.

"Oh god, what did I just sign?" I whimper, now scared.

Misa bounds over to me. "Congrats, Hime-chan!" She remembers to use my alias, before she gives me a bone-crushing hug. "You're one of the newest models for our agency!"

"What?!" I exclaim, now panicking.

"Don't worry, you're only part-time, so you won't be called in as often as I am." She smiles, very happy with herself. "Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, sure…" I let out as she gives me another hug. _'NOOOOOOO!'_

The rest of the week passes without many incidents, and I'm apparently only going to be called in on Mondays and Thursdays, so when Friday rolls around, I can watch what happens in the Yotsuba meetings with the rest of the task force.

"It's been about a week since I first snuck into the place!" Matsuda comments excitedly. "It looks like things have been moving pretty smoothly since then, huh?"

"We've almost got them." Light ignores Matsuda.

"So one of these people is Kira…" Ryuzaki states as he eats another sweet.

"Well then, now that everyone's here, let's commence our regular meeting." We hear Ooi's voice from over the speakers, and we all become confused.

Mr. Yagami speaks the question on everyone's mind. "But if there are supposed to be eight, why are there only seven?"

I assume my thinking pose. _'Could their Kira have killed one of them? If so, what for? And if so, he has even less guilt than I do, which one of them is Kira? This has just gotten a whole lot more interesting…'_

 **WHAAAAH! I'M SORRY MIRAI-CHAN! I felt it necessary, and it did give the readers a good laugh… Oh god, if you ever meet me, you'll kill me…**

 **End of Season 1! Woot! We're halfway through this! Here's a shorter chapter to break my habit of making each chapter longer than the last so by the end of it, the final chapter won't be 100 000 words.**

 **Until the next time we meet!**


	14. Omake 2

**Hey guys, I know you were all expecting another update today. And I'm really sorry for pulling this again, but I've had no motivation to write Kira's Other Half this week. I'll upload the finished chapter next week, but I won't do a double-update like last time 'cause that practically killed me. I'm burned out right now, and I'm going to need another week to write chapter 13. Since writing when you're burned out makes your writing garbage, I'm pretty sure nobody wants that, I won't force it. Until next week, enjoy this silly omake.**

 **Light's POV**

"We have to get back at Mirai-chan."

I startle from my half-asleep state at Ryuzaki's comment. I lift myself up in my bed with one arm, and turn to the bedside table clock, which proudly displays, '1:42'. I groan, before reasoning, "Ryuzaki, it's the middle of the night. Go back to sleep." I almost turn over, before remembering the handcuffs, and simply crawl back under the covers.

"I was never asleep." He counters, and I groan again, before sitting up entirely. "We need to get back at Mirai-chan." He repeats.

"Didn't Mirai-chan say that we were even?" I try to reason, but Ryuzaki scoffs.

"Like she thought we'd believe that. She put makeup on you! She desecrated a cake by adding too much salt! That's blasphemy!"

"Ryuzaki, when was the last time you slept?"

"Three days ago. Do you want to get revenge on her or not?"

"Fine. Did you have anything in mind?"

"A few things. Heheheheh…"

"Did you just laugh evilly? Ryuzaki, go to sleep."

"I can't. Come on!" He drags me by the chain out of bed, and into the living area we're forced to share. On the coffee table are about three shopping bags, all filled with zip ties.

"When did you have these brought in?" I ask, not tired enough to avoid questioning it.

"I had Watari pick them up." He passes me one of the bags, taking the other two. "Come on, we're going to zip tie every cupboard door shut, hide her knives, and zip tie all of her scissors so she can't use them."

I raise an eyebrow at his enthusiasm. "Isn't that a bit overkill?"

"Not at all!" He declares, leading me out of the room and into the hallway, before entering Mirai's flat. "She put too much salt into my cake, she deserves this…" He grumbles, placing all of her knives into a cupboard, before taking out a handful of ties and starting on all of the cupboard doors. I let out another sigh, before taking a handful myself and helping him.

The next morning, we sit in front of the monitors, looking at the cameras in Mirai's room to see her reaction. Now wide awake, I feel a bit more excited about getting revenge on her.

Mirai comes out of her bedroom in sweatpants and a plain hoodie, yawning and stretching. Rubbing her eyes, and without breaking stride, she makes a beeline for the scissors, and pulls out a Swiss army knife from her hoodie pocket. She quickly slices through the three zip ties we used for extra security, before returning the knife to her pocket. Using the scissors, she makes quick work of all the zip ties, tossing out about a hundred of them.

Ryuzaki and I share a look, clearly understanding that we needed to up our game if we truly wanted revenge on her.

 **Mirai's POV**

' _Oh, so those two are trying to get revenge on me, huh? They'll see where that gets 'em.'_

' _What're you planning?'_ Kiyohime asks, not bothering to read the river of thoughts flowing through my head.

' _You'll see…'_

Once I'm properly dressed and fed, I head down to the main area, acting totally nonchalant. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Light and Ryuzaki staring at me in disbelief, before turning away to talk to each other. I smile at the challenge. _'Let's see how long I can go for without falling for any of their mediocre pranks.'_

I prep myself all day, waiting for them to make their move. They only leave once to go to the bathroom, but I eye the exit they go through, the one I usually come through whenever I'm coming from or going to my flat. When it's time to go to bed, I simply take another route, and glance at them once to see their expressions. They look after me, horrified, before snapping their heads towards the exit they rigged. Matsuda retires at the same time I do, and goes through the doorway, immediately falling on his face as an airhorn goes off. I turn back to Light and Ryuzaki, and raise an eyebrow in challenge, before continuing on my way.

I go to bed without any other challenges, though I wake up in the morning hesitant. A quick glance-around my room informs me that I'm safe to move around. I pull on some comfy clothes, and glance at my bedroom door, which was not open last I left it. I position myself perpendicular to the door, and kick it open; using some advanced ninja technique Kiyohime apparently knows to catch the falling bucket of water without spilling more than a couple drops. I take the nearly-full bucket to the sink in my kitchen and dump it, leaving it on the counter to take care of later, an instead turn to my living space, which is covered in plastic party cups. Instead of cleaning up the hundreds there, I quickly and methodically stack each and every one of them into a large castle wall to separate the living space from the rest of my flat.

I return to my bathroom to freshen up, and see my hair dryer in a slightly different position then what I'd left it as. I quickly unscrew the top, and dump out the tablespoon of flour into the sink, washing it away with the tap water, before I wash the hairdryer as well. I finish up the rest of my morning routine quickly, and make my way to the main area where the others are. I wave at Light and Ryuzaki happily, and they simply glare at me, though I catch the slightest bit of a smile on Light's face, so my guards go back up. I scan the room, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary, so I continue as usual. The day passes uneventfully, and to be on the safe side, I grab the biggest butcher's knife I can find from the kitchen, and sleep with it under my pillow.

Acting on reflexes at three AM, I grab the knife handle from under my pillow and hold it out threateningly the moment I hear a floorboard creak. "I swear to every god in this universe, if you have come here to kidnap me, I will not hesitate to kill you." I growl out, before relaxing at their terrified expressions. "Oh. It's just you two." I lower the knife. "What do you want?"

They both stay silent, and slowly hide their hands behind their backs. "Nothing!" Light lies, panicked. "Absolutely nothing!"

I raise an eyebrow at his excuse. "Then why'd you come in?"

"To wish you good night!" He stutters out quickly.

I glance to my clock. "It's three AM."

"To wish you good morning?"

Now sick of their antics, I state bluntly, "Boys, grow up already. You've lost. I'm practically prank-proof. I had a friend in middle school, Daichi-kun, who taught me everything he knew. He was the best, or worst, depending on how you see it, prankster I've ever met. There's no prank you can do that I won't be able to foresee and avoid. Give up, and go to bed. Didn't I tell you that we were even?" They look away sheepishly, and I sigh. "Back to bed, both of you." When they don't move, I pick up the knife again. " _Now._ " I growl out, and they quickly retreat. I hide the knife away under the pillow again, in case they decide to come back. I settle back in under the covers, and fall asleep.

The next morning, I go about my routine without worry, as I believe the pranking to be over. I get to the main room after avoiding my usual route, just in case they decided to do something else. Sure enough, my haunch is proven right after I hear Misa cry out. I rush towards her, and towards the entryway I usually take, to see her covered in red liquid. Taking a quick sniff, I relax in the fact that it's not blood, and rather Kool Aid, and try to soothe her irritating whines and cries.

"It's alright, Misa-chan. I have a pretty good idea of who did this…" As I finish the sentence, I turn slowly to Light and Ryuzaki, who both gulp. I turn back to Misa. "Before we can scold them, why don't we get you changed into some clean clothes, okay? I'll help you pick them out."

I lead her back to her floor, and let her shower before taking out about a hundred different outfit combinations and watching her try on each one. When she's finally satisfied, I walk her back to the main room, sit on the couches, and watch her go after Light and Ryuzaki.

"I can't believe you two would do that!" She screams. "You should not prank a lady, it's not chivalrous!" Her long-winded rant lasts for hours, until she finally talks herself out. I bring her some tea, and she accepts it gratefully.

"Remember, we have to be in to the agency in about…" I check my watch, "thirty minutes, so we should head out soon.

Reminder her makes her squeal, before she sets down her tea and drags us out of the room. "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot! Come on, Mirai-chan, we can't be late!" She waves to the guys, before dragging me outside to the waiting car.

Once in the car, I sit back and sigh. _'Really, this is the only punishment the boys hadn't thought of, and it's the one punishment I can't do anything about. I'm disappointed in their lack of ideas.'_

 **Aaand, that's that! Again, I'm sorry that I couldn't get the chapter out today, but you'll have it next week. Also, has anyone else had the problem of nothing registering on their story stats for the last few days, or is it just me?**

 **Until the next time!**


	15. Makeshift

"Well then, let's begin tonight's meeting." Ooi declares, leaving the task force in shock.

"There's supposed to be eight of them, but only seven are present." Light reaffirms. "That must mean that-"

"They probably killed one of their members." Ryuzaki finishes. _'I thought so. If Ryuzaki believes the same, then that means it has a higher probability of being true.'_

"In order to further the growth of the Yotsuba group, and best serve its financial interests," Ooi continues. "Who should we kill next?"

We all tense at the declaration. "You see?" Matsuda says proudly. "It's just like I told you last week!"

"But before we get to that, there are several topics we need to discuss. First, there is the issue of Hatori's death." Ooi explains to the men around him.

"That was unavoidable." Namikawa interjects. "To be honest, in a certain sense, I'm relieved that Hatori is dead. Kira has demonstrated that we must be committed to these meetings. We now know what will happen if we try to leave."

Ooi nods. "I… think we all understand what Hatori's death means for the rest of us. Let's not take it lightly. Now, moving on. Our next topic is Eraldo Coil's report."

The other task force members around me gasp. "One of their members just died, and that's all they're going to say?" Mr. Yagami speaks the feeling going around the room.

' _Although, you have to admit, they are efficient, adjusting so quickly.'_ Kiyohime comments, and I silently agree.

"So did we really pay five million dollars for this report?" Higuchi asks indignantly. "I mean, come on, look at this! He hasn't found out anything important about L, like his name or his face! Is this Coil guy seriously going to be of any use to us?"

Ooi tries to calm him down. "Hold on a second. There is something very interesting in the last part of this report. Coil's warning us that we can't afford to take L's existence too lightly. In particular, it says the concentration of killings that are beneficial to Yotsuba will likely be noticed by L if they continue on Fridays and Saturdays."

They remain silent for a moment, before Mido speaks up. "Sounds like this Eraldo Coil has figured out what we've been up to. I admit, it's quite impressive. At any rate, I personally believe we should stop killing every weekend."

"This is unbelievable." Matsuda comments. "It's like they're trying to confess to everything!"

"Hmm, as long as we have this video as evidence, we could probably arrest all seven of them." Mr. Yagami adds, and I immediately know that Ryuzaki won't respond well to that suggestion. I glance at my insomniac friend, and see him tense, before watching the screen again.

"Kira hasn't been flexible up till now, has he?" Higuchi complains. "It'd be nice if he could spread out his killings over the whole week."

"The fact that Coil noticed what we are doing makes it too dangerous to continue killing at our usual pace." Mido continues. "From now on, we have to be even more careful, and make sure that nobody else happens to notice a trend in these deaths."

"Too late for that to work…" I mumble under my breath, before focusing in on the screen again.

"Now, onto the main topic." Ooi decides. "Who should we kill?"

"I think we should focus on E. L. F. Insurance." Mido suggests. "If they expand into the Japanese market, Yotsuba and many other companies will lose valuable clients to them."

Ooi nods. "Agreed. Alright, any objections to killing these people from E. L. F with accidental deaths?"

"No objections." They all call out in unison.

"Is this for real? How can they do this so easily?" Light asks, stunned. I nod in agreement with him. _'Yeah. These people developed Kira's cold, hard demeanor just like that! I'm impressed.'_ I try not to let my thoughts show on my face.

"Another potential candidate is Santaro Zenzai, a member of the Kugisawa Group." Ooi adds. "He's been protesting Yotsuba's resort development plans. Zenzai's known to have high blood pressure, so we can designate a time for him to suffer a stroke, resulting in natural death. Any objections?"

"No objections."

"Kira? Deaths by accident? By disease? Designated times of death?" Light lists, and I mentally curse them for letting so much information slip. "It's all just as we suspected! We were right."

"No." Ryuzaki responds coldly, and I can't help but agree with his statement. "Unfortunately, we can only be completely sure after those people they've named are dead." The task force stares at him in varying degrees of disgust. "We will continue to monitor these meetings and take note of what they say, how they act, and most importantly, whether the people they choose actually die. If we can confirm a connection between their actions and the deaths, then we'll definitely be able to catch Kira." He tries to eat a large amount of ice cream all at once, but the others interrupt him.

"Ryuzaki!" Both Light and Mr. Yagami yell at once.

"What is it?" He asks with his mouth full, most of the attempted bite having fallen back into the bowl. "There's no need to yell in unison." Were the situation not so tense, and if I didn't know how and when to play my cards correctly, I would have laughed.

"I can't carry on, knowing these people will die!" Light objects. "That's just immoral!"

"Right!" Mr. Yagami agrees, and I glance back to Ryuzaki.

"Here it comes…" I her him mutter under his breath, and I have to crack the tiniest smile, before quickly replacing my poker face.

"I know you're planning to catch Kira by letting these guys actually carry out these murders, but we can't let that happen!" Light pleads his case.

"That's right." Mr. Yagami continues. "It's obvious these seven men are behind the killings! With Matsuda's testimony and this footage we've recorded, we have all the evidence."

Ryuzaki places down his bowl, and tries to explain. "You're making this difficult. If we were to take action now, everything we've done will go to waste."

"So what do you say we take care of the E. L. F. in three weeks, and as for Zenzai, we'll ask Kira to kill him this weekend." Ooi suggests.

"No objections."

"If that's what they're going to do, there's not much time left!" Mr. Yagami exclaims, before turning to his son. "Light, we already know the phone numbers of these board members, don't we?"

"Yeah." Light grabs the page and hands it over to his father.

"I don't care who we call. I need to reach one of these men and have them stop these murders!" Mr. Yagami grabs his phone, and almost dials in a number.

"Please, hold on." Ryuzaki tries to reason. "That will cause suspicion. It would mean the investigation caught up to them three days after they were contacted by Aiber." He pours himself a cup of coffee. "Also, it would make it far more unlikely that we would be able to discover who the real Kira might be. We can't afford such a huge setback, seeing how far we've come." He sets his coffee down. "In order to catch Kira, we're going to need some solid proof."

Light thinks for a moment, before asking, "Ryuzaki, if one of these seven men is in fact Kira, would it be safe to say that if I try calling one of them, the odds of that person actually being Kira is going to be one in seven?"

My eyes widen in realization of his plans, before I smirk.

"I'm thinking there could be more than one Kira among them. A probability of two in seven, at most." Ryuzaki responds, before Light leans onto the computer counter.

"If we're prepared to let them know that the investigation's catching up to them, let's place our bets on these odds. Ryuzaki, I'm going to pose as L." Light reasons, thinking out loud. "Judging from their conversation so far, the one least likely to be Kira, but with the most influence is…"

"Namikawa." Light, Ryuzaki, and I all say in unison, while Matsuda calls out Ooi's name in the background.

We all ignore him, and I sigh. "Based on my interactions with him, I would have to agree that Namikawa-san is the least suspicious of the seven. If you're going to call any of them, I'd suggest him."

"If you are going to make a call, please, use this phone." Ryuzaki suggests. "It's set up so it can't be traced or tapped."

Light nods, before reaching over, and taking the phone from him. I turn my attention back to the screen.

"You know, this whole thing would go a lot faster if we kill off the execs of our rival companies, and be done with it." Higuchi complains.

"Ah, that would be going a little too far." Mido reasons, and I see Namikawa answer his phone.

"Why? We can kill them and split their holdings." Ooi debates, taking Higuchi's side.

I glance back to Light, who speaks into the phone, "Is this Reiji Namikawa, head of the Yotsuba Group's marketing department?... Listen carefully, but don't draw attention to yourself. I am L. I've placed cameras and wiretaps around that meeting room. Even as I speak, I'm recording footage of your entire meeting. The first thing you discussed was Hatori's death. Now you're debating who to kill next. Am I correct?... If you are not Kira, or if you are someone who can't contact Kira directly, let's make a deal. I need you to delay the deaths of E. L. F.'s president and Zenzai-san by one month. I doubt it would be difficult for someone of your standing to accomplish that… If you complete your end of the deal and cooperate with our requests from now on, then your crimes, no, not just yours, but everyone's crimes, with the exception of Kira's, will be pardoned, based on the premise that Kira blackmailed you into attending these meetings… If you tell the others about this call, they will panic. It would be of no advantage to you. Everyone would be arrested immediately. But that's not my intention. I'm planning to go one-on-one against Kira. Listen, if I win against Kira, you will be acquitted of all charges. If Kira wins, then you'll be free to carry on with your comfortable life. Just play along with both parties. Staying on the sidelines would be best. You're not in a position to lose anything, regardless of who wins in the end. You would only be at a loss if I decided to arrest you, right here and now. That's all for now."

"What's going on, Namikawa? Who was that?" I hear Ooi speaking, and I tear my eyes away from Light to focus on the screen again.

"Ah, one of my men screwed up again, I'll have to fix it on Monday." He lies to them, before continuing. "Anyway, sorry for the interruption. Let's get back on topic. We were discussing when we should kill Zenzai and the men from E. L. F. Here's what I'm thinking. We'll give Coil one month to reveal L's identity. If he still hasn't uncovered the information we need, then we can go ahead and kill the targets randomly. Then we'll give him another month to investigate, and repeat the process. Once we get rid of L permanently, we can go back to killing two or three people a week. In other words, our top priority should be the elimination of L."

They stay silent for a moment, before Mido agrees. "I see. Once we kill L, there won't be anything standing in our way. But until then, we need to be careful."

"Right. Sounds like a reasonable plan to me." Ooi agrees as well, nodding.

"We need to be extremely careful if we don't want to get caught." Higuchi adds.

"Then we're in agreement. We'll give Coil one month." Ooi concludes, and the others all agree in unison. "We will still be meeting on a weekly basis. That is all."

"That went well." Ryuzaki remarks, and I nod along with him.

"Better than I believed it would go. Well done, Light-kun." I congratulate him.

"Yeah." He nods, as if in a daze.

"You really are amazing, Light. Not only did you manage to delay the killings, but you also set up Namikawa as a potential mole for us." Ryuzaki compliments. "Sounded exactly like the sort of thing I would do, and you thought of it quicker than I did. At this rate, if I end up dying somehow, it's quite possible you would be capable of succeeding me."

My eyes widen. _'Succeeding him? As in, take the title of L for himself? If Light-kun still remembered the Death Note, he would say yes in a heartbeat! This would be a perfect opportunity to win in this battle! If only Light-kun remembered!'_

"What?! Why are you being so morbid?" Light exclaims. "There isn't time for that! We only have a month to figure out Kira's identity and gather evidence against him to prove it! This is only the beginning."

Ryuzaki reaches over for a couple papers lying next to his computer. "Yes, but you and Mirai-chan were the ones who first noticed the connection between Yotsuba and Kira. You might actually be more capable than I am. I honestly believe you could take this on. Tell me, if I should die, would you take over for me as L?"

My eyes narrow at the meaning and purpose behind Ryuzaki's words. _'A test, huh? Now I'm kind of glad that Light-kun doesn't remember.'_

We all stare at him for a while, before Light speaks up. "What are you talking about? As long as we're joined by these," he holds up the handcuffs, "we would die together, anyway." He realizes something, before continuing. "I see. Ryuzaki, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to tell everyone what you're really thinking right now. He thinks that if I am Kira, then there are two possibilities. Either I'm just pretending I'm not him and putting on an act, or Kira's power has passed on from me to someone else, and I have no memory of ever being Kira in the first place. He's trying to determine which, if either, is the truth. The first theory, if I am putting on an act, he will never remove these handcuffs. No, even if I wasn't pretending to be innocent, I'm sure he still wouldn't take them off. Ryuzaki still believes that I'm Kira. Even if that power had been passed to someone else, he thinks I would have planned to have it returned to me once I'm safe from suspicion. In other words, I wasn't being controlled at all. He thinks it was a plan to pass on the power, and have it returned to me once I think I've been cleared." My eyes widen. _'Well, if he figured out that much of the plan, without either of us screwing up, then I'm surprised Ryuzaki-kun hasn't deduced that_ I'm _Kira yet.'_ Light continues. "Ryuzaki's theory is that once I steal L's title, I will become Kira again."

"Correct." Ryuzaki flat out admits, without any hesitation whatsoever.

"Taking on the identity of L, having the power to control the police in every country, while being Kira in secret, it's ideal." Light continues, staring at Ryuzaki coldly. "And you're thinking I could do it, no that I would do it. That's what you're saying, isn't it?"

"Yes." Ryuzaki replies, nonchalant.

"But what about now? I told you, I don't want your title, that should prove, even to you, that I'm not putting on an act, shouldn't it?"

"If this is all an act, and you are trying to steal my identity, there's no chance you would be foolish enough to reveal your plan in front of everyone. Wouldn't you agree?" Ryuzaki responds, still confident. I can feel the tension in the air, and I know a fight is imminent.

"Ryuzaki…" Light grabs Ryuzaki's shoulder, and spins his chair so they face each other. Light crouches so they stare at each other dead in the eye, and asks, "Do you think that I'm actually capable of becoming a murderer? Kira? Even after I help you catch him? Do I seem like that kind of person to you?"

' _Oh Light-kun.'_ I look at him sadly. _'You aren't just capable of it, you did it. And now, you don't even remember bringing justice to those who could not do it themselves.'_

They stare at each other a moment, before Ryuzaki tells Light, "Yes you do. I've always thought so."

I rush over the moment Light's fist flies for Ryuzaki's face, at the same time, Ryuzaki's leg is outstretched to try and push Light off of him. Matsuda is moments behind me, and we pull them apart from each other. I wrap my arms around Light in a hug from behind, trying to keep his arms at his sides.

"Okay, break it up! Once is enough!" Matsuda yells, scolding them. "It was a draw, so let's just leave it as an even match, okay?!"

"Yeah, you're right." Light agrees, turning away. "Anyway, let's focus on catching the Kira that's in front of us right now." I release him, just barely realizing the slightly intimate position I was in with him. "As long as I have the handcuffs on, you shouldn't have any complaints."

Ryuzaki turns back to his computer. "I suppose so. We only have a month, so there's no time to get distracted." Matsuda and I both breathe a sigh of relief.

"Ryuzaki." Mr. Yagami begins.

"Yes?"

"We have plenty of footage from this meeting. Can't we use that as evidence against those seven men and prevent the murders of other criminals?"

"Unfortunately, no." Ryuzaki reaches for the sugar, and begins to add the cubes, one at a time, to his coffee.

"No? But why?"

"At the moment, we're not sure if Kira is among those seven men. If all they have is a tenuous connection with him, Kira will kill them as soon as they're arrested. We have to be absolutely sure that Kira is among them, so there's no point in detaining them now, if it does turn out to be one of them, it will still be difficult to determine who the culprit is. I believe it's still far too early to make our move." Ryuzaki explains, dropping sugar cubes into his coffee all the while.

"Hold on. At the same time, we can't definitely say that he's not among the seven." Mr. Yagami tries to persuade. "That means that there's a change that the killings will stop if we take this opportunity to arrest them!"

Light agrees with his father. "I think Dad's right, there is a chance. We have to act on it."

I shake my head, and take my chance to intervene. "I'm with Ryuzaki-kun on this one. If we arrest them unnecessarily, we'll only be doing more damage than good. For all we know, Kira could pass his power on to someone else before we have the chance to interrogate them properly."

Light looks at me with a hint of betrayal in his eyes. "So you're saying that we should just let these men die?"

"I'm not saying that at all. We have a month before they're killed, and if we arrest the men now, we could stop the killings before they happen. On the other hand, Kira may not be one of the seven, and may just be listening in on their meetings, the same as we are."

"But if we don't detain them, then they could just kill the E. L. F. president and Zenzai-san before we could stop them!" Nothing I say seems to get through to him, so I sigh, and lean against the computer desk.

Luckily for me, Ryuzaki cuts in before Light can continue. "Excuse me, but I think that, from now on, I should go after Kira by myself, although, if Mirai-chan decides to continue working with me, she may. You may continue to use these headquarters as you wish, I will also be here, but we will be working independently. You can conduct your investigation under your own direction. Feel free to arrest those men if you like. I will be carrying on my own investigation, we'll only get into arguments if we don't act separately and split up at this point. This is… for the best."

We stare at him in shock. "Are you saying you're going to find out who Kira is by any means necessary?"

"Yes. This case will never be solved unless we capture Kira himself. Don't get me wrong, I won't say that preventing more deaths is pointless. But if we don't uncover the entire truth, once and for all, Kira will only appear again and the number of victims will continue to increase. That's why I believe it's more important to find out who Kira really is. As I've been saying, I'm opposed to arresting those seven men. If you want to do so, you will have to take responsibility for it. I will pursue Kira on my own, alongside Mirai-chan." He stands, and makes his way to the glass stairs, dragging Light behind him. "We only have one month. I wonder who will succeed…"

"Ryuzaki, where are you going?" Light exclaims in confusion.

"To Amane-san's room. Sorry, I know you're on your father's side and all, but I can't remove these handcuffs. I'm afraid you're going to have to come along with me."

I follow them out with a sigh. "Might as well keep them from fighting again."

I follow them into the elevator, and onto Misa's floor. When we open the door, the idiotic she-demon sits up suddenly. "Light! I didn't know we were supposed to have a date!" I raise an eyebrow at the drop of honorific, but still catch her change of tone when she sees Ryuzaki. "Oh right, I should have known." Then, she sees me. "Oh, Mirai-chan! I guess a double date wouldn't be too bad, then."

"Misa Amane-san." Ryuzaki says, walking over to her on the couch. "Tell me, do you love Light from the bottom of your heart?"

"Huh? Well, yeah!" She recovers from her shock remarkably quickly. "Of course I do!"

"But you also worship Kira, don't you?"

"Well, yeah…"

He leans in closely to her, and continues his interrogation. "So then, if you had to choose between Light and Kira, who would you pick?" I hide a giggle at seeing Light pulling on the chain to try and get Ryuzaki away from Misa.

"What?!" She exclaims, before running over to hide behind Light. "That's obvious. Of course it's gonna be Light. I'm really grateful to Kira and want to meet him someday in person, but that's not true love." She grabs hold of Light's arm like a teddy bear, the sight chases away most of my mirth. "I'd definitely choose Light."

"But your precious Light is planning to catch Kira. Isn't that right?"

"Well yes, of course I am." Light responds calmly.

Ryuzaki leans in closer to them, making Misa jump and grab onto Light. "He says he wants to catch Kira. Now, what will you do?"

"Well, if that's what Light says, then I'm gonna support him, no matter what." Misa replies, determined.

"I see. So if you were given the opportunity to work with Light on this investigation, would you take the offer?"

"What? Ryuzaki!" Light responds, sounding miffed.

Misa keeps talking before he gets the chance. "Yeah! Of course I would! I'd do anything I could to help Light!"

"Wait, hold on a second," Light says to Misa, before turning to Ryuzaki. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm planning to have Aiber pose as Eraldo Coil again. He'll tell the Yotsuba group members that while he was investigating L, he discovered that Misa Amane might know who he is. He'll also tell them that L brought her in for questioning on suspicion that she was the second Kira."

"That part _is_ true." Misa comments, and Ryuzaki walks across the room to look out the window.

"If the Yotsuba group believes that Misa could be their lead to finding L, then they'll say that they want to meet her to discuss their advertising campaign. They'll use that opportunity to question her. Thanks to Matsuda's screw up, they might already be considering Misa as their new spokesperson, so this could work." He thinks out loud.

"Yeah, right!" Misa agrees wholeheartedly.

"We can't do that." Light objects.

"Why not?"

"This plan is too risky, who knows what could happen to you."

"Oh wow, does that mean you're worried about me?!"

I laugh. "You were never this concerned about my joining the task force."

He turns to me, and almost glares. "Please, as if you'd listen to any objections I had to make."

I pause, before nodding. "That's very true, Light-kun."

Misa jumps on him in a hug. "Don't worry. I won't mind doing something like this if it's for you, Light." I swear, I can see her eyes in heart shapes right now.

He turns back to her, and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Listen, Misa. If they suspect that you might know who L really is, we don't know how far they'd be willing to go to get that information."

She puts her arms up in a strongman pose. "No problemo! I won't say anything, even if they torture me!"

"I can attest to that." Ryuzaki and I say in unison.

"But Kira can control his victim's actions before their death." Light tries to reason. "There's a good chance he might manipulate her into revealing what she knows, and then kill her! Also, if he does manage to kill L, he won't have any use for Misa. He'd kill her to keep her silent!"

Misa whimpers. "Uh, I don't like the sound of that."

Ryuzaki holds up his right hand to Light. "Light. You forget, that if we win against Kira, Misa won't die. Besides, as long as we're handcuffed together, you and I share the same fate. If I die, so will you." He lets his hand fall. "If that happens, Misa is the one who would grieve most of all. Either we lose and both die together, or we successfully catch Kira." He turns to Misa, holding out a hand, expecting an answer. "Which is it?"

"We catch Kira!" She exclaims energetically. "I would never dream of living in a world without Light!"

"Yes, that would be dark."

"Cut it out! This is just crazy!" Light yells, now exasperated.

Ryuzaki glances over at Light. "We're running out of time, and I'm starting to get desperate. As for Misa Amane, I've turned to her because I know her bravery and love for you is boundless."

I raise an eyebrow at that, wondering if the investigation had gotten to him and he'd gone insane.

"Do you really mean it?" Misa asks, sounding awed. "Oh no, I think I've totally misunderstood you all this time! I even called you a pervert! But you actually do understand how I feel, don't you?"

"Yes. Misa is indisputably the most perfect and worthy woman for Light." Sarcasm drips from his statement, and I try not to laugh.

"Yay!" She runs over and kisses Ryuzaki on the cheek. "You're such a sweetie, thank you Ryuzaki!"

He touches his cheek, stunned, before muttering, "I could actually fall for you…"

"Let's not go that far. Besides, don't you like Mirai-chan that way already?" I start to choke on air, coughing a few times, before looking at her incredulously, but she doesn't seem to notice. "But you could maybe be a friend of mine! Would that be okay?"

"Yes. So now I've gained yet another friend…" Ryuzaki contemplates.

"Yeah! Of course, any friend of Light's is a friend of mine as well!" She grabs my hand and Ryuzaki's hand, before making us all twirl together in a circle. "Let's all be friends together!"

' _Oh dear Shinigami King, is that chick making this room_ sound _sparkly?!'_ I hear Kiyohime freak out inside of me, and I can't help but smile at her sudden discomfort.

"And of course, I would never think of betraying any of my friends. With our powers combined, we'll arrest Kira!" Misa strikes a silly magical-girl pose.

"What is this, an anime?" I mumble under my breath.

"Unfortunately, Light's taking a different investigative approach from us, and will be working with his father and the others." I look at Ryuzaki, and see him smirking. _'So that was your plan, Ryuzaki-kun. You damn idiot.'_ "I'm afraid it'll just be you, Mirai-chan, and I."

"Huh? What's up with that?" Misa asks indignantly.

"Come on, L, now you're just playing dirty." Light complains, and I try not to laugh. "You're leaving me with no other choice than to join your-"

"No, that's quite alright." Ryuzaki interrupts him.

"What are you talking about?" Misa decides. "Of course he'll be joining us!"

"That's not it either!" Light exclaims, exasperated. "I've been opposed to this investigation since the beginning! It's too dangerous for her!"

"Oh Light…" She purrs, and I look at her oddly. "You're so sweet, thank you for worrying about me. But please let me do this. I want to be useful to you, somehow." She clasps her hands, and speaks dreamily. "If I can be useful, you'll love me even more! And besides, I would gladly die if it were for you, Light."

I raise an eyebrow, and conceal a smirk. _'She'd be willing to die for him, huh? How intriguing…'_

 **And 4.9 K. Not bad, not bad at all, considering that I've been unmotivated for most of the week, and practically ill for the days I'm willing to write.**

 **As school has started up, and considering the very sudden workload I've been given, and add in the stress and odd nausea I've had all week, I may or may not update every Friday anymore. Giving you guys promises that I haven't been able to keep was a terrible idea, and I apologize for not being able to uphold them. If I don't update one week, then just wait for the next Friday, and I will probably have updated then.**

 **Until the next time!**


	16. Performance

' _Tell me, what was the point in coming here again?'_ Kiyohime asks, as I wander into another jewellery store.

' _I don't trust Misa-chan. I have this gut feeling that tells me that she might remember soon, and that feeling hasn't gone away in a while.'_ I glance around, over all of the shelves, looking for a specific pair of earrings. _'If I can give her something bugged, something that she's likely to wear often, I'll be able to keep tabs on her.'_

' _Huh. That's pretty clever, actually.'_

"Hello!" A store employee comes along. "How can I help you today?"

I slap on a big smile, and a cheerful attitude. "Hello, I'm looking for a gift for my friend. Would you happen to have any hollow silver fleur-de-lis earrings?"

"As a matter of fact, we do." He leads me over to a shelf near the counter, and shows me a large array of earrings. He goes behind the counter, and picks up the earrings I asked for. "These are Sterling Silver Fleur De Lis earrings; would these be what you're looking for?"

I nod. "Yes, they are. How much?"

"Six thousand yen."

I buy them, and walk out of the store with my new purchase in tow, a smirk on my face.

A few days later, I walk into Misa's floor with a special, modified gift for her. I hear Ryuzaki say, "All right! Let's try again, from the top."

I walk into the room, and see Aiber sitting across from Misa, Light and Ryuzaki standing behind her. "Tell me Misa-san; is it true you once said you came to Tokyo in order to meet Kira?"

"What…?" Misa over exaggerates, leaning back in comical shock.

Ryuzaki hits her on her head with his director's megaphone. "Misa, please stop overacting. It looks too cheesy, not to mention fake."

"Huh?" She pouts over the couch. "But I thought that was a realistic performance…"

"Just do it again."

"Whatever you say, oh so great director." Misa waves her hands childishly.

Ryuzaki drops the megaphone. "If you don't get serious about this, I'll kick you."

I stand next to Light, and wait for their little practice to be over. A few hours later, once they've gotten most of it done, Misa stands, and stretches, before seeing me. "Oh, hey Mirai-chan! How was my performance?"

I throw on a fake smile. "It was great, Misa-chan!" I hold out the box to her. "I actually got something for you, a little gift to show how much I appreciate your friendship."

She takes the box and immediately opens it. "Oh, Mirai-chan! They're beautiful!" She holds up the modified earrings. "Thank you, Mirai-chan!" She leaps on me in a hug, laughing, and I hug her back. She puts them on immediately, exactly as I had presumed she would. "How do they look?" She asks me, before she spins around.

I force a quaint laugh. "They're perfect on you!"

As I had predicted, she wears them again the next day, before Mogi takes her to her interview. Just after they leave, I make some excuse about not feeling well, and hide in my flat. I turn on my receiver, and activate the bug in the right earring remotely. There are a few moments of static, then silence, before the sound kicks in. It's quiet, but clear enough to understand.

"Uh, Misa-Misa…" Mogi starts, and I hear the sounds of the highway in the background.

"You're not smiling enough, Mochi! And you can just call me Misa, you know." Misa replies, still smiley .

Mogi sighs, before saying in an overly peppy voice, "Misa-Misa!" I choke back a laugh at the image of the ever-stoic Mogi smiling like an idiot.

"What is it, Mochi?"

"Today you have an interview with the Yotsuba group to see if they'll use you in their new ad campaign! But remember, this is also an infiltration mission, so stay sharp!"

"Don't you worry, I already know about that! And of course, you can't let your cover fall, either. You're gonna play the character of the hyper, energetic manager, okay?"

"Right! Bring it on! Hoo-ah!"

The connection fills with static again, signifying the fact that they've gone underground. It's a few minutes before I pick up anything else.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." A male voice speaks suddenly, and I vaguely recognize it as Ooi's.

"Good morning!" Mogi calls back. "I'm Misa-Misa's manager, Kanichi Moji, also known as Mochi."

"Ooi-san! Shimura-san! It's so nice to see you again." Misa talks over Mogi, before I hear footsteps.

"Good luck, Misa-Misa! I'll be here, ready to celebrate when they decide to hire you!" Mogi calls out one last time, before I hear a door close. Three sets of footsteps sound through the system, and the three people they belong to remain silent their entire trek up to the meeting room.

I can hear Misa sit down, and the line goes silent. A moment passes before I hear Aiber's voice come through. "Now then, I don't believe you and I have met before, have we, Misa-san? My name is John Wallace, I'm the executive advisor for the marketing and advertising department. Nice to meet you."

"Thank you! I'm very pleased to meet you, too!" Misa pipes back.

"Well, this might seem a little bit sudden, but I'd like to be honest with you. We've been talking about it, and we've pretty much decided to hire you already. But, before we make it official, we'd like to clarify a few things."

"Yes?"

"We've been doing a little background check on you, and according to our sources, a burglar killed your parents during a robbery. You worship Kira because he killed the suspect. Is it true that you came to Tokyo in hopes of finding and meeting Kira?"

"What? W-who did you hear that from?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that. The information is reliable, and now, I'd say it's confirmed. The look on your face tells me these are the facts. Also, you're still hiding something from us, aren't you? Something you'd prefer the world not to know." There's a moment of silence, before Aiber speaks again. "It seems you were detained by the detective L for a short period of time. We'd like you to tell us the full story of what really happened. It would be a problem if the new face of Yotsuba turned out to be Kira."

"Yes, we would appreciate it if you were honest with us." Ooi adds in.

"A-all right, I understand. I'll tell you everything…" Misa admits. "Yes, I was held for questioning. I didn't think it was L, but he did ask me lots of questions about Kira. But I'm not the Second Kira, and I never was. I was released because he realized I didn't have anything to do with Kira, after all."

"Did you manage to see who it was that was restraining you?" Ooi asks.

"No, I was blindfolded the whole time."

"But if he asked you questions, surely you heard his voice, right?" Kida asks.

"Only through a speaker and voice filter, so…"

"Come on." Higuchi interrupts. "What the hell is this anyway, a job interview or a police interrogation? How long are we gonna keep this up? I'm going to the bathroom."

"He has a point. It seems the interview veered a little off track, we're very sorry." Ooi apologises.

"Excuse me, but would you mind if I went to the bathroom as well?" Misa asks, before receiving the go ahead. I hear her footsteps, and two doors opening and closing.

The sound of running tap water fills the input, and I hear Misa whine, "Oh, this is getting exhausting, but everything's going well so far. I just have to keep it up."

She takes a sudden, sharp inhale of breath, as if in fear. Against my distaste for the moron, I feel a slight worry for her. She tries to cry out, her heavy breathing evident, but I hear another voice come through the speaker. "Misa, you're in a dangerous situation right now. There are people within Yotsuba who can easily have you killed. I've come here to warn you."

" _That voice… it sounds like Rem's."_ Kiyohime comments, and I have to agree with her.

' _Yes, but if it is Rem, why would Misa-chan have inhaled sharply like that? Could she not have her memories back?'_

"Calm down and listen to me." Rem continues, unaware of my listening in. "Please, believe me, I'm your ally. Light Yagami is Kira." I hear Misa inhale again, this time joined by my own. _'Why the hell would you tell her that, you're going to ruin Light-kun's plan!'_ "Tell me, what is Light doing at the moment?"

Misa makes some unintelligible sounds, sounding like she's been gagged, before they cut off, and she gasps for air. "W-what are you?" _'That seals it. Misa-chan doesn't remember anything about her being Kira. However, it's likely that Rem is about to remind her of everything.'_ "I mean, I can tell you're not a stalker, but you don't look like a human at all!"

"No, of course not. I am a Shinigami. Before you were captured by L, you and I worked closely together."

"What are you talking about? I don't understand. You know me? And Light is Kira?"

"The Death Note…" _'Damn it, Rem! You had one job!'_ "It grants its owner the power to kill someone, simply by writing that person's name in it. Light Yagami took it upon himself to punish criminals using that notebook. He soon became known to the world as Kira. You also possessed that same power, in fact, your ability was even greater than his. You managed to find Light by using your power to determine that he was in fact Kira."

"Light is Kira… and I'm the Second Kira?"

"That's right. Or rather, that used to be the case. Light arranged it so you would both lose this power. This was all according to his plan. Misa, do you still love Light enough to die for him?"

"Unbelievable, you've gotta be telling the truth. You already know everything about me. I totally believe you now, and yes, I do love him, to death…" For some reason, my hate for Misa grows at this moment. "Not to mention how amazing it is that Light and I are both Kira. Of course I'd want to believe something like that. I only wish I could remember it!"

"You haven't changed, Misa. And it seems your feelings for Light will never change, either. It's enough to convince me that the only way you can be truly happy in life is if you can support him in his plan."

"Thank you, Shinigami."

"It's Rem. The current Kira is a vile and pathetic human being. I don't know what he's capable of. Be careful, and beware of the others from Yotsuba. Trust Light; let him do whatever he feels necessary."

"Okay, I got it. I guess I should just act normal in the meantime, right?"

"That's right. When you go back to the interview, you will be able to see for yourself who the real Kira is. Be on your guard, and do not trust him."

"Alright."

"Listen, when you return, I will be in the room. The man sitting in front of me will be Kira."

I mentally curse myself for not attaching a camera to the other earring to see who Rem would stand behind.

They exchange a few more words, before Misa leaves, only the sound of her footsteps and the sounds of the doors alert me to her location. Once she opens the door to the interview room, she exclaims, "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry I took so long! I was just fixing up my make-up a little." She sits down, and their interview continues.

Not seeing any real point in wasting the battery further in order to listen to basic questions, I remotely shut down the bug, and hide the receiver in its hiding spot again.

I pace around my flat for a few minutes, trying to come up with the new list of variables that Misa's sudden knowledge of the Death Note will bring. After a time, I decide to head down to the main room. Once I step inside, Ryuzaki immediately notices my presence.

"Feeling better?" He asks, and I quickly remember my lie to hide in my room.

"I'm well enough to look over the case files again." I state as I walk over to the couches.

Light turns towards me, a slight hint of worry in his eyes. "Try not to push yourself too hard, okay?"

I nod once in his direction, ignoring the warmth that spreads throughout my body. Rather than getting anything done, as I should be, I instead think over all the new problems that arise from Misa's little revelation.

It isn't long before Matsuda breaks the silence. "Misa-Misa sure is late…" At that exact moment, the doors open. "Oh, they're back!"

"Hey!" Misa exclaims cheerfully, before slumping, and walking over to Light. "Oh, I'm exhausted…" She then proceeds to sit on his lap.

"Hey…" Light states, slightly unnerved.

"How did it go?" Ryuzaki asks, ignoring Misa's PDA.

"Yotsuba agreed to hire Misa on as their spokesperson for the new ad campaign." Mogi explains, without all the forced cheer that'd filled his voice all day.

"I see. That's good to hear." Ryuzaki nods, accepting the expected news.

"And I made sure to give them my cell phone number! Would you believe three out of seven guys already messaged me, asking for a private date?" She shows her phone to Light. I mentally register Matsuda's verbal exclamation, but don't listen to it, instead focused on Misa's rant. _'I have to hand it to her, she can certainly act normal, considering she met a god of death today.'_

"Well well, Light-kun." I smirk. "Seems you have some competition for Misa-chan. Better up your game, or else she'll get snatched up by someone else!" He glares at me from over his shoulder, but I just keep smiling.

"So now, I accept their invitations and investigate them, right? Oh, it's going exactly as I planned!" Misa squeaks out happily.

"No, the plan's getting cancelled right now." Light interrupts.

"But why? Everything's been going so smoothly up until now."

"If you go any further, you'll be in danger." He pushes her off of his lap. "You can still appear in their commercials, but from now on, you should deny that you were suspected of being the Second Kira and were detained by L. Mogi will continue being your bodyguard, but you'll be working solely as a celebrity."

She sighs. "If that's what you want, Light, then that's what I'll do." Her submissive attitude catches Ryuzaki's attention, and I mentally swear. _'Damn it, Misa-chan! He's onto you!'_ "Well, I'm feeling pretty tired. Tomorrow's shoot is bright and early, so I better get some sleep!" She walks, giggling to the doorway. My eyes follow her in the slightest of glares, the most I can express of my distaste for her. She hides behind the doorframe, and calls out in a seductive tone, "Hey Light, want to come sleep with me tonight?" I almost choke on my own saliva at the implications of her words.

"W-what are you talking about?" Light stutters out, confused and slightly embarrassed.

"Just kidding! You're saving it for after we catch Kira, right? You don't have to be shy about it!" She scampers away.

"Yes Light, there's no need to be shy." Ryuzaki teases with a straight face, though my eyes can see a small smile edging its way onto his face.

"I'm not being shy!" Light protests childishly.

"No need to be so serious, either." I smile at the debacle. My second true friend, finally letting loose enough to tease other people. Though another thought soon sobered me. _'Ryuzaki-kun only has three friends, Light-kun, Misa-chan, and myself. All three of us are Kira, Ryuzaki-kun's, or L's, greatest enemy. He already knows that Light-kun and Misa-chan are the First and Second Kiras, so it's possible that, if we lose, he might be crushed upon finding out that all of his friends were secretly trying to kill him. It doesn't matter who they are, that could destroy any chances of anyone regaining the ability to feel emotions.'_

" _On the other hand,"_ Kiyohime adds in, _"if you win, you'll have to end up killing him. In all honesty, that could kill you. I'd rather have your soul in prime condition when I devour it. I'll have to find a way…"_ I shake my head to clear it of the ideas Kiyohime's entertaining.

The next day, late in the afternoon, I have an overwhelming urge to go and listen in on Misa. Against my better judgement, I follow my creepy intuition, and hide in my rooms to essentially stalk her.

The static sounds for a moment, before the actual sounds come through, quiet and semi-clear.

"What an amazing car!" Misa admires.

"If you like it so much, I'll give you a ride anytime, or buy you one of your own." I quickly place the second voice as Higuchi's. _'Where the hell is Mogi-san? Wait, the dates… Misa-chan snuck away from him to go on one. Damn it.'_ "By the way, loving that nurse's outfit, Misa-chan."

"I'm glad you like it!" She giggles, and I hear the car door open and close, before it seems to drive off.

" _So, Misa's sneaking around, huh? Nice timing for you to activate the bug. I guess you've got some kind of intelligence in you."_

' _I'll try not to take that as an insult.'_

The two stay silent in the car for a while, before Higuchi breaks the silence. "Hey, Misa-chan, why don't we grab a bite to eat?"

"Are you planning to take me somewhere and do pervy things to me?" Misa asks, in a confident voice. "Well, even if you are, that's okay; I'll be fine, since I can kill people." I stare at the receiver in shock and horror. _'She admitted it? Out loud?! But why would she- ooohhh. Not too shabby, Misa-chan. Not too shabby.'_

Higuchi laughs, a slight nervous tone in his voice. "C'mon, you're just kidding with me, aren't you, Misa-chan? You can kill people?"

"Yep. It's true. And you know why? Because I'm the Second Kira."

They're both silent for a minute, before Higuchi laughs again. "Oh, Misa-chan, you don't have to make up stuff like that to feel safe with me. I'm sure you'll find that I'm quite the gentleman."

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, I'll only prove that I'm the Second Kira to the real Kira."

" _If Higuchi doesn't guess that this is a trap, I give up on all hope of intelligence in you people."_ Kiyohime comments from the background of my mind.

"You'll only show proof to Kira? Why?" Higuchi echoes.

"I'd show him because it's always been my dream to become Kira's wife. I know he'll need me by his side once I tell him."

Higuchi laughs again. "Well, since I happen to be Kira, does that mean you'll marry me?"

Misa falls silent for a brief moment. "Really?!"

"Y-yeah. I mean it."

"What?! Then prove it to me! C'mon, let's prove it to each other!"

"I can't do that. It'd be a pretty bad idea to let someone witness how I kill people."

"You think so? I don't know. If I thought someone was Kira, I think I'd be willing to show them. We'd never get anywhere if I didn't."

"Then why don't you kill someone? After all, I could be the real Kira."

"Alright, but I only kill bad people, okay?"

"That's right, a bad person, huh?" A moment passes before I hear the sound of typing keys, and Higuchi continues. "This is Ginzo Kaneboshi, president of a major finance company. He's infamous for his immoral collection methods. Sometimes, he even makes people pay with their insurance money. How about him?"

"Would you be able to confirm his death right away?"

"Yeah, as soon as I call him."

"Okay then. Could you turn around for just a sec?" Fifty seconds pass. "Alright. He should be dead by now."

A hear a phone flip open, and Higuchi say, "Hello, this is Higuchi from Yotsuba-"

"Told ya!" Misa says a few seconds later.

I hear a small and quick struggle, Misa gasping, and a few thumps.

"So, if I'm Kira, you'll marry me, right?" Higuchi asks, aggressively.

"Wh- hey, why are you getting so serious all of a sudden?" Misa stutters, worried and nervous.

"Because I'm Kira."

"Then prove it."

"I'm not gonna be able to kill until I get home. You understand?"

"Oh, well, that's no good, then. For all I know, you're just making all this stuff up so you have an excuse to take me to your place. Wait, I know! Why don't you stop killing the criminals on TV? That should prove it. If you're Kira, it should be no problem. You can start killing again when I tell you to. If all the times and deaths match up, then I'll believe you. After all, killing criminals in that way is something only Kira can do."

"I see what you mean. That's a good idea. All right, Misa-chan. I'm Kira, so in order to make you trust me and prove that I'm him, I'll stop killing criminals for the time being. Then, once you're fully convinced I'm the real thing, you and I-"

At this vital point in time, the battery decides to die. I curse once, but accept it.

"Eh, it'd been going for hours. I guess that's all the spying we'll be able to do on Misa-chan for now." I grumble to myself, before heading over to the others in the main room.

I'm sitting on one of the couches, flipping through the files, when Misa and Mogi come back. Without saying a single word to any of us, Misa takes out her phone, turns it on, and plays a recording.

"Why don't you stop killing the criminals on TV? That should prove it. If you're Kira, it should be no problem. You can start killing again when I tell you to. If all the times and deaths match up, then I'll believe you. After all, killing criminals in that way is something only Kira can do." The phone sounds, echoing the conversation I'd heard earlier.

"I see what you mean. That's a good idea. All right, Misa-chan. I'm Kira, so in order to make you trust me and prove that I'm him, I'll stop killing criminals for the time being. Then, once you're fully convinced I'm the real thing, you and I can get married." _'Ah, so those were the last three words.'_

Everyone on the task force looks at Misa in varying degrees of shock, and she smiles. "And so, based on what he said, Higuchi is Kira!"

Matsuda smiles, and gets excited. "Now we not only know Kira's identity, but all those deaths that were worrying the chief are gonna stop! That's amazing, Misa-Misa!" She holds out a peace sign.

My gaze flashes to Ryuzaki and Light, and we all look between each other. I immediately know that they suspect Misa again.

' _Oh Misa-chan. You gave them the answer, but in doing so, you've indirectly given them the confirmation that you are the Second Kira. You had a single stroke of intelligence, and now, it's gone. Even so, you managed to find out who was the Yotsuba Kira, and you've gotten it confirmed. Even the idiotic can do things on their own. How intriguing…'_

 **I blame my lateness on a few things.**

 **1\. Anime, namely Arslan Senki and Akagami no Shirayuki-hime. Oh, the stories I could draw from those…**

 **2\. Yandere Simulator. Quote, "HAHAHAHAHAH! DIE, BITCH! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR TALKING TO SENPAI!" Do I have a problem?**

 **3\. General family life. If I lived alone, on top of a mountain somewhere, with internet access, these chapters would be out every couple days. But no, I must socialize with other beings.**

 **Other than that, I have one more thing to say: These chapters will be done when they are done. As such, for most of the schoolyear, I'll post the chapters whenever they're done. In other words, updates will be more sporadic, so keep an eye on this story for new updates, cause I can't promise any specific days anymore.**

 **Au revoir, mes amis!**


	17. Guidance, Frenzy, Revival

Misa walks over to Light, and they start to talk. My eyes linger on Ryuzaki, who stares into his coffee like it holds the answers to all of life's mysteries. I know that he's thinking over everything that Misa just told us, and possibly over-analyzing it to the point where he'll deduce that Misa has regained her memories.

"Misa, how did you get Higuchi to confess?" Light's question draws my attention to the pair.

"Easy, that guy's totally in love with me." Misa explains nonchalantly. "All I had to do was tell him that I'd marry him if he was really Kira. Plus, I managed to convince him that I'm the Second Kira."

I stare at her in horror. _'And why would you bother telling Light-kun this?! Ryuzaki-kun obviously overheard you, and now he's wondering how you managed to do that! Nicely done, Misa-chan! You've dug your own grave!'_

"Misa, you idiot!" Light yells. "Didn't I tell you to deny all that?!"

"B-but now we know Higuchi's Kira, right? So what's the problem? Can't we just catch him?"

Watari walks in with a large trolley of sweets, which he parks next to Ryuzaki. The detective takes one of the cookies, and says, "I guess this is what you'd call a victory, right Matsuda?"

"Right now, we still don't know exactly how he kills his victims, do we?" Light states.

"Yes, that's just what I was thinking. Before we move to arrest Higuchi, I want to find out how he kills people."

"If the criminals stop dying, we won't be able to figure it out, unless we come up with another idea. Isn't that right?"

"Yes. At any rate, even if we do arrest Higuchi, we're not gonna do it until we're certain that criminals have stopped dying. Let me think about this for a moment…" We all go silent as Ryuzaki thinks, before he types in a few commands. "Wedy."

"Yeah." Her voice comes through the speakers.

"An update on the current situation, please."

"Everything's going smoothly. We should be able to track seventy percent of their movements using our cameras inside the office building."

"What about outside the office?"

"That's not gonna be possible with just Watari and me."

"What if you focus solely on Higuchi?"

"Higuchi? I've only been able to enter the houses of five of the men so far, but Mido, Namikawa, and Higuchi all have super high-tech security systems, especially Higuchi. He recently constructed a dampening room that shuts out any electronic waves. It took me two days just to break into the place."

"This guy sure does sound suspicious." Matsuda comments.

"Alright, then begin installing microphones, cameras, and trackers, but not in the house. Instead, just put them in every car." Ryuzaki decides after a moment.

"What? After getting this far?" Wedy's voice comes through. "Do you know how hard it is to break into somebody's house? Besides, do you have any idea of how many cars this guys has?"

"He has six." Comes Ryuzaki's reply from around a mouthful of sugar.

She sighs. "Fine then. I just have to install them in all of his cars, right?"

"Yes, thank you."

A few moments of silence pass before Ryuzaki speaks again. "Light, I'm sorry to keep coming back to this topic, so I'll just get right to the point."

"What is it?" Light responds passively, though with a slight hint of trepidation in his tone.

"Do you remember? Killing anyone, I mean." Ryuzaki turns to Light.

Light quickly gets angry. "Are you still going on about that? Look, I'm not Kira! How many times do I-"

"I just wanted you to answer the question." Ryuzaki interrupts. "Well? Do you remember?"

Light glares at him. "No, I don't."

"Misa, what about you?"

"I don't remember. How could I, cause I'm not Kira!" She defends.

"Look Light, please listen to what I'm about to say." Ryuzaki continues, looking back to Light. "I'd like you to thoroughly analyze my current theory, this could determine the way we end up catching Kira." Ryuzaki pauses. After a moment, he continues. "Light Yagami _used_ to be Kira. Kira's power has somehow passed on to another person. Light Yagami now has no memory of ever _being_ Kira. I need your analysis based on these assumptions. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Light sighs. "Yeah, I'll give it a try." Light thinks over it for a long minute, before coming to a conclusion. "Given your premise, it would be my will to pass on Kira's power."

Ryuzaki nods, before turning back to his screen. "Yes, of course. If there is a third party with the ability to bestow or transfer Kira's power, and they didn't want their method to be discovered, it makes no sense that they would wait so long to transfer it from you to the next Kira. If we believe that this is the work of some being watching us from above, then we'd have to accept that they are impossible to catch. Not to mention, I'd already be dead, or at the very least, I'm being made to be a fool by eternally dancing in the palm of someone's hand. It's highly unlikely that such a being exists." He's silent another moment, before turning to Light. "Thank you, Light. I can now say that I feel ninety-nine percent better." Watari walks in with a tray of assorted sweets as Ryuzaki starts talking again, developing a plan. "We'll create a situation where Higuchi won't be able to pass on his power to anyone. We'll have him show us how he kills."

"So, what're you gonna do?" Light asks the question we're all thinking.

"I'm going to trick Higuchi using Sakura TV."

"Like a hidden camera show!" Matsuda exclaims.

"What?" Misa follows up, questioningly.

"We'll use the Kira Special that Demegawa-san airs every week." Ryuzaki continues, ignoring them. "We'll book a three-hour timeslot, and it will be announced that Kira's identity will be revealed at the end of the special."

"Would anyone actually buy that, though?" Matsuda questions. "This is Sakura TV, after all. For all we know, Higuchi might not even watch that program."

An idea occurs to me, and I throw it into the conversation as means of an explanation. "So we'll get Namikawa-san to call him and say, 'This is bad, turn on your TV.' I think that should get him watching. Higuchi would buy it once he realizes that the person on TV is someone who knows all about his secret."

"Oh, I get it!" Matsuda exclaims again. "So we'll be using Aiber, then! He'll reveal that he was a spy all along!"

"No, I'm afraid you're incorrect." Ryuzaki denies. "We will not be using Aiber. Whoever appears on the show has to be someone Higuchi believes he can kill. In other words, it has to be someone whose name he can look up easily."

"But we're never gonna find a person like that, are we?" Matsuda questions, and we all stare at him. Pointedly.

"You're the only one who can do it." Light affirms.

"Matsu!" Misa squees.

"Matsuda." Mr. Yagami nods.

"Higuchi probably thinks that you were listening in on their meeting and overheard their plans to kill people." Light reasons. "It makes sense that Misa's manager, who he thought was dead, is the one revealing his secret."

"That right." Ryuzaki agrees. "We'll have Sakura TV use a voice filter and frosted glass to protect your identity. Higuchi will probably realize from the announcement and the silhouette that it's the manager, Taro Matsui. And, just to make sure, we'll have the studio mess up and accidentally reveal your face from behind the frosted glass."

Misa exclaims, "Wow! Sounds exciting!"

"Until the show ends," Ryuzaki continues, ignoring her, "the announcer will keep saying they'll reveal the full name of H, who's acting as Kira."

"Higuchi-san will feel cornered, and he'll want to find out the name of the manager as soon as possible." I explain the rest of the plan the three of us formed almost psychically. "We'll be able to anticipate the actions that he'll take, and as such, be able to see how he kills."

"After that, we arrest him." Ryuzaki finishes. "There is one potential problem with this plan. If Higuchi can kill simply by looking at someone's face, just like the second Kira, Matsuda will die…"

Matsuda looks stricken at this, so I try to reassure him. "That possibility's highly unlikely, however. After all, you're still alive."

"Considering that fact," Light continues, "and how he's pursuing Misa, I doubt that he possesses that power."

"At any rate, we're only going to do this once criminals stop dying." Ryuzaki adds. "We'll have to wait for two or three days to see whether or not that happens. In the meantime, Matsuda will have to decide if he wants to go through with this plan."

Matsuda takes a breath before stepping forward. "I don't need two or three days to decide. I want to do this."

Light, Ryuzaki, and I share a glance and a slight smirk, knowing how that would be his answer.

"In that case, it's best we begin to prepare." I state, letting my smirk show through.

Three days later, our act begins.

We call Namikawa, and Light speaks to him through the voice filter. "It's L. Are you by yourself?"

"No." Namikawa's response comes through the speakers on our end, allowing Ryuzaki, Misa, and I to hear it as well.

"Then just act like it's a normal call again."

"I don't think there's any need for that. One of the people here with me was just expressing his suspicions over your last phone call." He pauses, seeming to speak to the others. "L, Mido and Shimura are here as well. I'm reasonably certain that neither of them are Kira, in fact, they seem fed up with it at this point. I'll speak for them, and say that they choose to stand back and watch your face-off with Kira, like I plan to."

Light glances to Ryuzaki, who responds in confirmation, "That's fine."

Light continues. "Tonight, I'm gonna catch Kira, but I'll need a favour from you."

"Then it's the end for Higuchi." Ryuzaki and I glance at each other, understanding the bait the Namikawa just placed in front of Light.

He takes it. "What? You know that it's him?" I give an almost unperceivable sigh.

"Hah!" Namikawa laughs. "So even the great L can be tricked. Based on your reaction, I'm now a hundred percent certain that Higuchi is Kira."

"Namikawa's pretty smart, huh?" Misa comments. "But then, I always thought he was, from looking at his face. I guess this proves it."

Ryuzaki counters her. "No, that was just because Light messed up."

Light glares at Ryuzaki for a brief moment, before continuing. "I'm baiting Higuchi with a staged TV special tonight on Sakura TV. A few minutes into the program, I want you to contact Higuchi, tell him to tune in. Do that for me, and I won't go after you or any of the other five. As for the others, Kida, Takahashi, and Ooi, if they try to do anything, make sure to stop them."

"Alright, I understand." Namikawa hangs up, and I nod towards Light in approval.

Only a few hours later, it begins. Light, Ryuzaki, Misa, and I stay behind at our base on standby as Mr. Yagami and Matsuda go to Sakura TV, and Mogi watches the offices of Yoshida Productions.

About fifteen minutes into the program, Misa's phone rings. She flips it open, and mutters, "It's him," before denying the call. I glance back at her, rather than watch the monitors with the same determination as Light and Ryuzaki. With my eyes, I try to question her. _'Well, Misa-chan? Do you remember everything now? Or have you not yet regained all of your memories?'_ I don't seem to get a response from her, so I turn back to the screens as she comes over to join us.

Another couple minutes later, Watari informs us of a new update. "Ryuzaki, Mogi is in position in front of Yoshida Productions. He's just received a call from Higuchi."

"Yes, it's time for Phase Two." Ryuzaki responds. "Everything's going as planned."

The monitor switches to a stylized representation of the phone conversation.

"Moji, where's Misa?!" We hear Higuchi yell angrily.

"Oh, Higuchi-san, pleasure to hear from you!" Mogi responds accordingly, trying to buy time. "I'm sorry, but Misa-Misa's taking a much needed vacation right now, she should be back by, oh, tomorrow morning though! You can reach her then!"

"I'm asking you where she is _now!_ " Higuchi demands, not bothering to hide his irritation.

"Well, that's private information. She's requested that no one know where she is. I'm very sorry, I'll have her contact you tomorrow, first thing!"

Higuchi pauses for a moment, clearly thinking, before he continues. "Do you know if Misa's former manager was an entertainer at some point?"

"Come again?"

"I'm talking about Taro Matsui!"

"Oh, heh, I was only recently hired, so I don't know much about him, if you need some information, I can let you talk to someone from the office. Oh, I just remembered, everyone's in Okinawa at the moment! You could try calling the president, though!"

"This is going exactly as we planned, it's almost scary." Light comments. I can't help but nod in agreement.

"You shouldn't be scared, Light, you should be happy." Ryuzaki rebukes him on his choice of words.

The screen switches back to Watari's symbol after their call ends. "I'm patching you into Higuchi's call with the president of Yoshida Productions." He says over the system, before the screen switches again.

"This is Higuchi, from Yotsuba. That manager's real name isn't Taro Matsui, is it?" We hear him say.

"He's not even pretending to hide what he's asking about, now is he?" Misa adds in, before giggling. "Stupid Higuchi."

"No, it wasn't, if I recall." The president responds to Higuchi. "I think it was just a name for his job as manager."

"If he's acting like that, then it's proof that he's beginning to panic." Ryuzaki explains.

"Then what was his real name?" Higuchi yells.

"I think it was Yamada, no, wait, Yamashita… And his first name was… I'm sorry, I can't remember."

"Don't screw with me! Why the hell can't you remember the names of the people you hire?!"

"Alright, no need for that kind of language. I've got his personnel file back at the office."

"Then go back there and get it."

"You gotta be kidding me. Give me a break! We're on our first company vacation in two years! If you want to know that badly, I'll give you the pin code for the office lock. You can go in yourself and look it up, how's that? The personnel files are in the desk at the back to the left. You'll find them filed in the bottom drawer, they should all be sorted alphabetically. But I'm pretty sure it was Yamashita."

The four of us look between each other, but Misa asks the question. "So what's he gonna do?"

We wait for a few moments, before Wedy reports in. "I see Higuchi. He's only carrying a single bag. I'm in pursuit."

"Everything's still going according to plan." Light comments.

"Yes." Ryuzaki agrees, and I give a single, silent nod.

"Next thing you know, I'm in a hotel room drinking with all eight of them!" Matsuda's modified voice comes through the speakers after the commercial break.

"Heh, well that's rather amusing." The show host replies.

"But if I give you any more details, I'm afraid the people who were there that night will know which one of them is Kira, so I think I'd better leave it at that for now."

"Of course. Please, take your time to tell us all the details of your ordeal to find Kira."

"Light," Ryuzaki requests, "please put Higuchi's car on audio channel one, and Sakura TV on channel two."

Light types in a few commands, and responds, "As expected, Higuchi's watching every minute of this from his car."

"And so, according to you, it was at that party where you met Kira." The announcer continues, albeit being in the background.

"Yes. But of course, at the time, I had no way of knowing that he was actually Kira." Matsuda responds.

"So that means he saw your face? This is incredible, I think it's amazingly courageous of you to step forward and appear on this program, are you sure you're okay with it?"

"Yes. After I started investigating him, I found out that Kira has to have two things in order to kill someone. There are rumors on TV and the internet as to what those two things might be, but I know the truth. But Kira only knows one of those two things about me, so that means I should be safe."

"Rem." Higuchi suddenly speaks to the Shinigami in his backseat, and I tense at his blunder. "What do you think?"

"What do I think? About what, may I ask?" Rem responds calmly.

"Rem? Who's that?" Light asks, and I barely keep my eye from twitching in annoyance. "There is no one else in that car, right? It's impossible for someone to be hiding in there without us knowing, and he isn't using his cellphone. Could it be a hidden radio?"

" _Well, you're screwed."_ Kiyohime speaks up _. "That Higuchi's an idiot. Why the hell would Rem choose someone like him, who'd only result in Misa's death?"_

' _Probably because Rem believed it would lengthen Misa's lifespan.'_ I respond, before returning all of my focus to the calamity about to occur.

"No, there aren't any radios or other devices." Ryuzaki points out. "Only the bugs, cameras, and tracking beacons that Wedy placed. I have no doubt she did a thorough job."

"Do you think I'll get to Yoshida Productions only to find his file isn't there?" Higuchi clarifies.

"Is he talking to himself?" Light suggests.

"Why ask my opinion? I don't see how I'm supposed to know something like that." Rem replies.

"If this guy was smart, he'd destroy everything linking him to his real name before he appeared on TV." Higuchi decides. "And don't you think it's a little too reckless for Yoshida Productions to just let me into their offices unsupervised? Eh, maybe not. If there was a robbery, they'd figure out right away who did it, since I'm the only one who knows where the key is."

"This isn't sounding very good…" Misa worries.

"He'll still go there. Don't you worry." Ryuzaki reassures.

"Even if he does have a file at Yoshida, it could be just another alias." Higuchi thinks aloud. "Damn it! I wouldn't put it past this guy to do something like that. No wonder he's confident."

"That may be true, but if he knows that you are Kira, he's going to announce your name in public." Rem reasons. "That's an inescapable fact."

"Alright, there's only one hour left until the big announcement!" The show host exclaims, as if supporting her point.

"You're only option is to go." Rem continues. "If the name on his file is false, that'll be unfortunate. But if it isn't, you can kill him discreetly with the notebook."

"Yeah, I already know that much myself. But just to be on the safe side, I should also kill the people I contacted at Yoshida productions, that includes the president, Misa, and that manager of hers."

"What?" Misa exclaims, now very worried. "He's gonna kill me?"

"Don't worry, he's talking about doing that after he's killed Matsuda." Ryuzaki's reassurance doesn't sound too convincing. "There'd be no point in killing the rest of you until he's gotten rid of the main threat."

"That's true, but still." Light admits.

"Don't be reckless." Rem tries to persuade Higuchi otherwise. "He's the only one you have to kill. If the people you called end up dying too, the phone records will implicate you in their deaths."

"Oh yeah? Rem, I didn't think you were so smart." Higuchi patronizes her. "Then I'll make them all erase their call histories before they die."

"But the telephone company will still have a record of the calls."

Light stands up, irritated. "There's no way he's just talking to himself! But who's Rem? Who is he talking to?!"

"If he's talking with someone right now, it could be… a Shinigami." Ryuzaki suggests. A glance Misa's way shows me that she tenses at this. "Perhaps." He brushes the suggestion off.

"How about giving up ownership of the Death Note and returning it to me?" Rem requests.

"No, I'd end up being ruined if I did that. Even if I forget the notebook, this guy says he has concrete evidence to back him up. If he points out Yotsuba's recent growth on the air, no one would ever doubt his claims, they'd believe whatever he said! That means whoever he says is Kira will be marked as Kira! Even if he didn't have proof, and I got rid of the evidence by returning the notebook, my life would be over! I wouldn't get promoted, I wouldn't even be able to stay with Yotsuba!"

"Of course, Sakura TV has broadcast this show under the premise that right now, as we speak, Kira is watching this program." The host continues.

"In that case, I'll take this chance to call out to him." Matsuda responds. "Kira! Please, turn yourself in!"

Higuchi pulls up to the building, and parks, before getting out, with Rem following behind him.

"He's arrived at Yoshida Productions." Light informs us.

"The show is about to begin." Ryuzaki comments.

"Let's see how this plays out." I add.

We switch the monitor displays to the security cameras inside the building, and watch as Higuchi rifles through the folders. He pulls one out before opening his briefcase, and revealing a familiar black notebook. Seeing it again after so many weeks brings about a feeling of familiarity, even though I'm only seeing it through the screens.

"We're in position, and ready to take him down. We'll move on your command." Mogi whispers over the system to us.

"Right." Ryuzaki confirms.

We watch as Higuchi writes down Matsuda's second alias, 'Taichiro Yamashita', in his Death Note. He puts everything away, and walks out the door.

"He's not doing it!" Light exclaims ignorantly. "He just made a note of his name, and now he's leaving! He's not gonna kill him here?"

"Ryuzaki, do you want us to apprehend him?" Mogi whispers.

"Negative, we still don't know how he kills." Ryuzaki orders. "Perhaps he's planning to do something once he's back in the car. Let's see camera one again." The screen switches to Higuchi's car.

"It's weird." Light comments on Higuchi's calm demeanor. "You'd think he'd want to kill Matsuda this very second, but he's calm."

"It is strange…" Ryuzaki agrees. "If all he needed was the name, he should have just taken the personnel file with him, but he just put it back in its drawer after taking a note. Mirai-chan, what do you think?"

"It is odd." I play ignorant. "We'll have to see what he does next." I carefully count off the seconds in my head. _'Thirty eight, thirty nine, forty. What secret of Kira's will you reveal next?'_

"Kira is a cold blooded murderer. I cannot forgive him for what he's done." While I prickle at the off-handed insult, Higuchi loses it.

"Damn, he didn't die!"

"What's he talking about? He said, 'He didn't die'…" Light echoes.

"Did he already try to kill Matsuda?" Ryuzaki wonders aloud. "Was writing his name down all he had to do, or was it…" He trails off.

"What do we do now? Should we just continue to watch what he's doing?" Light asks Ryuzaki. "What if he can cause a death just by imagining it?"

" _Yep. You're all screwed. This moron shall be the death of you."_ Kiyohime sings, before returning to her silent observance.

"Only fifty minutes to go until the big Kira announcement!" The host proclaims happily.

"Damn! I don't have any time!" Higuchi yells, grabbing his cellphone and dialing.

"He's making a call?" Light asks no one in particular.

"It's probably to Misa-chan again." I respond. Not even a second later, her phone starts to ring. "Speak of the devil…" She immediately denies his call.

Higuchi gets enraged, and chucks his phone into the backseat, before slumping and thinking. It's a few moments before he eventually says, "Rem, let's make the deal."

My eyes widen. _'Damn! Why do the idiotic ones always get more power?!'_

"The deal?" Light echoes. "And who is this Rem he keeps talking to? Could it be that Kira's power comes from another world or some being?"

"I really don't want to think that's the case." Ryuzaki adds.

"Then what is this Rem?"

"A Shinigami? Whatever it is, we need to keep watching him. We'll learn nothing if we take him now. We may still be able to find out how he kills."

On the screen, Higuchi suddenly smiles insanely, and I can see his eyes glint red. He quickly peels out of his parking space, and onto the road, with Wedy, Mogi, and Aiber in pursuit.

"We're heading after him!" Mogi reports in.

A few minutes later, I hear sirens in the background. "This is bad. Higuchi's been pulled over by a traffic cop." Wedy informs us. "I'm gonna have to pass him and leave the pursuit to Aiber's team."

"You were speeding. Licence, please?" The cop requests.

"Sure, no problem." He reaches over into his briefcase where the Death Note hides.

"Switch all cameras to Higuchi's car." Ryuzaki instructs, and we all lean in to see what information we can get from this.

"Let's see, where'd I put it…" Higuchi mutters, before glancing at the space above the cops head. His hand moves in the case, before he drives off.

"Higuchi ditched the cop, he's driving away!" Mogi reports in, before saying a moment later, "The motorcycle just rear-ended that truck! He's dead!"

"He's dead? By accident?!" Light echoes.

"This is very bad." Ryuzaki decides.

"Rem… A deal…" Light thinks aloud, and I glance between them as they try to figure this out.

' _I really don't want to feed your ego, Kiyohime, but you're right. Higuchi's just gonna get us all killed.'_

" _Great! Now, if the rest of the world would just listen to me, maybe there wouldn't be tons of people full of ignorant bullshit."_

' _Language!'_

" _You're a serial killer whose secrets are about to be exposed, and you worry about my swearing?"_

"Everyone!" Ryuzaki commands. "It's too dangerous to allow further action by Higuchi! Let's bring him in! I believe he now has the powers of the second Kira! He is able to kill just by looking at someone's face! Please keep this in mind as you move in to arrest him!" We receive the team's affirmatives, and Ryuzaki continues. "Watari, get me the director of the NPA."

"Of course."

He speaks through the voice filter to the NPA. "This is L. We are now aware of Kira's true identity. He is currently heading from Hibiya to Shibuya along highway route one in a red sports car. Our group will be handling the arrest. In the meantime, please instruct all officers to refrain from approaching this car."

"Alright, Dad, during the next commercial break, take measure seven." Light instructs.

"Understood." Mr. Yagami's affirmative comes through.

"So then, Light, Mirai-chan, what say we go and join the fun as well?" Ryuzaki suggests.

"Yeah." Light nods.

"I couldn't agree more." I step away from their seats so they can stand up.

Ryuzaki grabs something, and sits Misa down on the newly vacated chair, before handcuffing her and tying her to the chair with chains. "I'm sorry to do this, Misa, but I'm going to have to make sure you're restrained for a while."

"What?!" She exclaims, only now understanding what's going on. "But that's- stop joking around!"

Once she's been secured against her will, the three of us head up to the helicopter pads. Ryuzaki leads, with Light behind him, and myself bringing up the rear. So, when Light slows to a stop, I notice, and slow with him.

"Hey, Light-kun, what's up?" I ask. "We need to get going."

"Mirai." His lack of an honorific catches me off guard, which lets him grab me by my arms. "You should stay here. It's too dangerous for you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I question. "It's dangerous for you, too. Doesn't mean you're gonna stay here and let Higuchi-san get away."

"You could get hurt."

"So could you."

"We don't know what's going to happen, and Mirai, I…" He looks down and away from me, before staring intensely into my eyes. "I can't afford to lose you."

I feel a blush take over as I stutter out, "Y-you can't afford t-to… what?"

He pulls me close to him, and before I can comprehend his actions, he presses his mouth to mine.

" _One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Miss- damn, better get out of here before this gets past the T rating."_ Kiyohime comments from the back of my mind, but I can scarcely comprehend her words or their meaning.

Light pulls away from me slowly, before sprinting past me, towards the helicopter pads. It takes me a few moments before my mind starts working again, and I realize the meanings and intentions behind Light's actions. _'He kissed me so he could leave me behind?! That- that douchebag!'_ I run in the same direction that Light had taken, and find the roof empty. I'm pretty sure half the city could hear my resulting yell.

"LIGHT YAGAMI, WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU'RE A FUCKING DEAD MAN!"

oOo

Light comes sprinting out onto the rooftop a few moments later, without Mirai. He climbs into the helicopter occupied by Ryuzaki and Watari, and takes the co-pilot's seat.

Ryuzaki raises an eyebrow at him. "Where's Mirai-chan?"

Light pants, trying to catch his breath, before lying, "She said she wanted to stay behind, and I told her that we'd be fine on our own."

Ryuzaki gives him a disbelieving glare, as he hands him a headset. "I somehow have a hard time believing that. When this is over, her wrath will fall squarely on your head, and you'll have to deal with it without my help."

"I know. Just pray that I get through it with my life intact."

oOo

Equipped with a headset tuned into the channel we're using and a tinted helmet hiding half of my face, I peel out of the headquarters garage on a motorcycle borrowed from Wedy.

As I drive out, on my way to Sakura TV, I hear Ryuzaki over the channel. "Come in, Wedy. Have you removed absolutely everything relating to Matsuda from the Yotsuba headquarters?"

"Yeah." Wedy responds. "Why, is he headed there now? Isn't that convenient. That should give me more than enough time to meet up with Yagami-san and set up the ambush."

Ten minutes later, Light's voice comes through the channel, but I refrain from trying to kill him now. "Dad, Higuchi's left Yotsuba. He's on his way to Sakura TV; he'll be there in less than fifteen minutes. Are you ready?"

"I don't need my son asking if I'm ready." Comes Mr. Yagami's voice. "Of course I am."

"Mirai-chan." Ryuzaki addresses me. "I'm assuming you snuck out of headquarters after Light forced you to stay back."

"You guessed correctly." I respond. "But I can chew him out later. What do you need me to do?"

"I want you to hide in the parking lot of Sakura TV, give backup to Yagami-san's team. If Higuchi runs, I want you to tail him and give us his position."

"Got it."

I pull up to Sakura TV, turn off my motorcycle, and wait. Higuchi pulls up, gets out, and runs in silently. A minute after, Mogi and Aiber pull up and jump out, sliding on helmets as they run.

"We've arrived at Sakura TV, we're moving into position!" Mogi reports, before saying, "Let's go, Aiber!"

"Okay, Mogi!" Aiber replies. Neither of them give me a second look as they run in.

A few minutes pass, before I hear two gunshots. "L, Higuchi's got a gun on him! The chief's been shot! Higuchi's escaping!" Mogi informs us, and I see Higuchi run out of the building.

"Now, Mirai-chan!" Ryuzaki commands, and I start up my motorcycle before chasing after him.

"I'm sorry, Ryuzaki. If Mirai-chan's on his tail, we can still catch him, hurry!" Mr. Yagami says, supporting me.

I chase after Higuchi with the same reckless driving that he displays, making my choice of a motorbike that much smarter, as it offers me much more maneuverability. I chase him up a ramp, and onto a freeway. However, when headlights blind my view, I quickly skid to a stop, only a few meters behind Higuchi.

I glance around, and smile widely at the sight of a police blockade. _'Only one person would do this, after being told by L not to make any moves. Many thanks, Aizawa-san.'_

A bright floodlight encompasses Higuchi's vehicle, following it leads my eyes to the helicopter almost directly above me. Higuchi, now half desperate, tries to drive through the gap between the cars and myself, only to have one of his tires shot out by Watari from the helicopter. Higuchi spins out, hitting the concrete wall. I corner him, along with the police, framing him in the headlights. He slowly catches his breath, before his eyes glance over to me. I see a small smirk make its way onto his face, before he lifts his gun, points it at me, and pulls the trigger.

I feel the bullet hit my forehead at an angle, and force my head back, creating a whiplash effect. I can feel my helmet get knocked off from the force, and I can feel the bullet exit through my temple. I hear at least ten people scream my name, varying in familiarity from, "Tsukino-san!" to Light's, "Mirai!"

" _Damn moron, can't stay out of trouble for even a single fucking day, now can you? I'll try to heal the wound quickly and correctly, but you'll have to claim that it just grazed you, alright?"_

' _Alright… I… think…'_

" _Huh, you're still alive. Too dumb and stubborn to die, anyway. Might be a good idea to go and retrieve that bullet while no one else is watching. Someone might find your brain matter on it and dig too deeply."_

Luckily, focus is taken off me when Higuchi puts the gun to his own head, and shouts, "Stay back! Stay back or I'll shoot, I swear!" Watari quickly shoots the gun from Higuchi's hand, and two officers race to try and help me. I hardly recognize either of them, and just let them pull me along while my wound stops bleeding.

They take me over to the newly landed helicopter, and hand me over to Watari. I'm then lain on the floor of the helicopter, and I hear Light and Ryuzaki fret over me.

"I'm fine, guys. It was just a graze." I try to explain, following Kiyohime's guidelines. "I was just in shock, I'm fine. Worry about making the arrest, you can deal with me later."

Reluctantly, they return to their stations, and keep giving orders. Watari helps me sit up against the interior wall of the helicopter, before wrapping me in a blanket to help with the shock, and giving me a headset to listen in on everything. I move over to be able to see the arrest clearly, and watch with rapt attention as Mr. Yagami and Mogi make their way towards Higuchi's car, before stopping and getting Aizawa from his. Once the three approach him, six armed policemen surround them, guns ready to fire.

Higuchi slowly and reluctantly gets out of his car, before they handcuff and blindfold him. Mr. Yagami reports in. "We've apprehended him."

"Mogi, I want you to put a headset on him as planned." Light directs, and they move to do so.

Once Higuchi's been given a headset, Ryuzaki speaks. "Higuchi… How are you able to kill people? Tell me!" Higuchi makes some kind of dismissive grunt. "If you're not going to talk, I'll use whatever means necessary to get it out of you."

"The notebook…" Higuchi admits, and I know that Kiyohime's taunts about how she was right are going to start coming any moment now…

"Notebook?" Ryuzaki echoes.

"You probably won't believe me, but I've got a special notebook. If I write someone's name in it while thinking of their face, that person dies."

"Yagami-san." Ryuzaki begins to instruct, but Mr. Yagami anticipated his request.

"Yeah, I found it. It was in one of the compartments of Higuchi's bag. He has written a lot of names in it, but there doesn't seem to be anything else unusual about it-" Mr. Yagami looks up, before he starts yelling in fear.

"What is it, Yagami-san?" Ryuzaki asks, slightly worried. I follow Mr. Yagami's line of sight, and see Rem staring at him.

"A-a monster!" he stutters out.

"Please calm down." Ryuzaki instructs. "Don't panic. Remember, you're not currently armed to defend yourself."

"Oh. Oh, right, of course." Mr. Yagami rambles.

Mogi walks over to him. "Chief, hang in there. Are you alright?"

"Mogi, can't you see that thing over there?!" He points at Rem.

" _It's not very nice to call a Shinigami a 'thing'."_ Kiyohime pouts.

' _Really, Kiyohime? I thought that everything and everyone was below you, and that you wouldn't care.'_

" _Yeah, normally, but Rem's one of the few Shinigami that I've been told has intelligence!"_

' _So, you two have never spoken?'_

" _Don't worry; she doesn't know I'm here. Keep it that way, and you may live to see tomorrow."_

Mogi picks up the Death Note. "Chief, I think you must be getting tired…" He looks at Rem, and begins to freak out as well.

"Mogi, what's wrong?" Light asks, worried.

"I-it seems that only people who've touched the notebook can-can see… this, this monster!" Mr. Yagami shakily explains.

"Please bring the notebook over to the helicopter." Ryuzaki instructs.

"Uh- okay." Mogi stutters out, before walking over to us. He holds it up to Ryuzaki's window. "Here it is, Ryuzaki."

He takes hold of it, and turns to look at Rem. "It really is… a Shinigami…" He says in awe. "They really… do… exist…"

After Ryuzaki stares at Rem for a while without passing the notebook on, Light gets fed up. "Ryuzaki, come on, we all need to see it." And he grabs it out of his hands.

After Ryuzaki comes out of his maze of thought, he looks down, only to realize that the notebook is gone. He slowly turns to Light, who's frozen with a horrified expression on his face. He lets out a horrifying scream, and I quickly come to a conclusion.

' _Well, well. It seems that our Light has returned. I don't believe we shall be working on our own anymore, Kiyohime.'_

" _Yes, well, the peace was nice while it lasted. Now, we're gonna have to work to bring about this new world of yours."_

"A-are you okay, Light?" Ryuzaki asks, tentatively. "I suppose seeing that monster would surprise anyone."

After a moment, he responds. "Ryuzaki…"

"What is it?"

"I want to check this out; I'm going to try comparing the names in this notebook with the names of the victims."

"Hmm? Oh, right. That sounds like a good idea." I stare at Light, wondering what his next move is going to be. "Yagami-san, please take Higuchi to the car."

"Right, of course." Mr. Yagami leads Higuchi away, and I can see Light staring intensely at them.

I quickly figure it out, and give a small smile. _'Well, Higuchi-san now has less than a minute to live.'_ I count down the seconds in my head, and barely listen to the conversation between Light and Ryuzaki.

"You know, about this notebook, I wonder what we'd find if we put it through forensic analysis." Light suggests.

"That doesn't sound like you, Light." Ryuzaki responds. "We both know this thing is beyond science."

"Heh, yeah, you're right."

"Higuchi!" Mr. Yagami calls out. "Ryuzaki, Higuchi is-"

"What the hell?!" Light exclaims. "What's happening?!"

I move over to get a better view, and I see Higuchi writhing in agony. My eyes flicker to Light and back to Higuchi, and I say, "Oh no, you're kidding me. How?!"

"Hey, Higuchi!" Mogi yells out.

"Dad, what're you doing?" Light demands to know. "We can't lose him! If Higuchi dies on us now…"

"That's impossible…" Mr. Yagami admits. "There's nothing more I can do. He's already…"

Another glance to Light shows me his Cheshire grin in place. _'He's already dead.'_ I finish for myself. _'And by the look on Light's face, Ryuzaki-kun is next.'_ A feeling of extreme dread fills me at that thought. _'Odd. That's the goal we've been striving to achieve for over a year now. And yet, there's a part of me that can't bear the thought of it. How interesting…'_

 **So, I have line breaks only for changes in perspective or POVs. Not for time skips, 'cause that's how I roll, editor!**

 **To make up for the heinously long wait, here's a bit of relationship advancement for Light and Mirai. Haha! Honorific dropping! Progress! Or, you can call them the shipping name I thought up at three AM because I couldn't sleep, "MIRAITO". Guess how I came up with that one.**

 **Anyways, we're getting close to the five year gap. So, before I forget, I might as well stick it here. Considering how much of the second main arc I loathe - really Near, you only managed to figure it out from sheer, dumb luck - I'm going to end up going through the entire thing and** _ **rewriting it all.**_ **After the "turning point" (Spoilers hidden for those of you who haven't seen that far in the Anime or read to that point in the manga, and if you haven't, what are you doing, go finish this arc, it's brilliant), I won't be going according to the transcripts to the letter, because, really, I should have a firm enough grasp of the characters by now to write them in character. Don't get me wrong, we'll still follow most of the storyline, only thing is that Near won't know as much as he does in the anime.**

 **Until the next time, my lovelies!**


	18. Silence

Back at headquarters, we all awkwardly stand around, more often than not looking at Rem. I'm sitting on the couches with a block of wood and a knife, whittling away as I grumble under my breath about a certain womanizer.

I hear Aizawa open the Death Note and read out the rules. "How to use it… The person whose name is written in this notebook… shall die. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his or her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. If the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next six minutes and forty seconds… As well, the back cover has some more instructions on how to use it." I glance up momentarily in surprise, before continuing with my attention on Aizawa's next few words. "There are two more rules. One of them is if you make this note unusable by tearing it up or burning it, all the humans who have touched the note till then will die."

"What?!" Matsuda exclaims. "Is that really true, Aizawa?"

"Yeah, that's what it says."

"No way, this sucks! Why didn't you tell me before I touched it?"

"How was I supposed to know? I'm in the same boat, and I don't care for it, either!"

"Oh man, maybe I shouldn't have let my curiosity of seeing a Shinigami get the better of me!"

"Maybe," Mr. Yagami cuts in, "but then you'd be the only one in the investigation who didn't know what we were dealing with. Is that what you want?"

"Uh, no, of course not. I wanna be on the same page as everyone else on the Task Force, Chief."

"And then, there's this last rule." Aizawa continues. "According to these instructions in the back of the notebook, if the person using the note fails to consecutively write names of people to be killed within thirteen days of each other, then the user will die."

I glance over to Light. _'Clever ploy, Light. Now your name, and Misa-chan's, have both been cleared. That is, until you decide to act on your own again and screw up, or until Ryuzaki-kun calls your bluff.'_

"Ah, wait a second!" Matsuda exclaims. "If that's true, then that means that Light and Misa-Misa are completely cleared, doesn't it?"

"Now that you mention it, that's right." Aizawa agrees. "Light and Misa were detained for mare than fifty days, and are still under surveillance. If either of them had been Kira, there's no way they'd still be alive by now!"

"Wow, that's great news, isn't it chief?" Matsuda shouts happily.

"Yeah." Mr. Yagami nods. I glance over to Ryuzaki, who seems rather down.

"Rem, was it?" He asks. "That's your name, isn't it? The white thing over there?"

I grumble under my breath, "That could be taken as a racist comment…"

Matsuda hesitantly scolds him. "Ryuzaki, isn't it a bit rude to go around calling someone a 'white thing'?"

" _Finally! Someone with common sense!"_ Kiyohime exclaims in relief, before realizing who exactly she was complimenting. _"What?! No! Matsuda's too stupid to have common sense!"_

"What do you want?" Rem responds calmly, and I can tell that she's resolved to not tell us anything more than needed.

"There's more than one notebook in the human world, isn't there?" Ryuzaki responds without breaking his stoic façade. I don't even worry at the fact that he figured it out, this is something I've anticipated.

"Who knows? There may be, and there may not be." Vague, as predicted.

"If there are other notebooks, either here or in your world, would they all have the same rules as this one?" I avoid glancing to Light, partially not to give anything away, but also because _I'm still pissed off at him._ I attack the block of wood with renewed vigor.

"Yes, they are all the same. There are many notebooks in the Shinigami realm, but they all have the same rules, even the rules for when humans obtain them."

"Ryuzaki, Misa and Light have both been cleared of suspicion." Aizawa declares. "They shouldn't be under surveillance any longer."

Matsuda supports his case. "That's right, it's crystal clear!"

After a moment of contemplation, Ryuzaki responds. "I suppose you're right. I understand. Please, accept my apologies for all the trouble?"

Mr. Yagami walks over to his son and rests a hand on his shoulder. "Thank goodness."

"Yeah, but…" Light stands, and holds up his handcuffed arm. "We still can't say we've solved the case until we've figured out everything. Would it be alright if I keep investigating with you, without the handcuffs on?"

"Yes." Ryuzaki responds simply, keeping his face neutral. I look at my insomniac friend, and give an unperceivable sigh.

' _And like that, Light and Misa-chan have been cleared. I have a feeling that this madness will be ending soon.'_

"Well?" Ryuzaki asks, looking at me expectantly.

"Well what?" I respond, trying to keep the actual confusion from my face.

"Aren't you going to say, 'I told you so'?"

"Why do you think I would?"

"Well, you have defended Light against his being Kira all this time. Now, we have proof that he isn't guilty."

"Besides," Light cuts in, and my anger flares up again, "smiling about how you were right all along seems like something you'd do."

I jab the knife into the block. "Shut," I twist the knife harshly, "up," and yank it out, along with a large chunk of the excess wood, "Light." Everyone around me backs away a step, looking either slightly intimidated at my unspoken threat, or surprised at my dropping of an honorific. I realize my mistake, and stand. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room." Without another word, I leave to go and hide in my bedroom.

I let my hands wander, and they end up with a few pieces of origami paper. Letting them move on auto-pilot, I'm soon surrounded by little heart boxes. My thoughts wander, and I hardly even respond when someone knocks on my door.

"Mirai-chan." I hear Matsuda call out. "Misa-Misa's leaving headquarters today. Do you want to come say goodbye?"

"No, thank you, Matsuda-san." I call back and my hands resume their work, my eyes almost dead. I stay in my room for two days, trying to calm myself enough to face Light, and the rest of the taskforce, after my outburst earlier.

' _If I can see Light without trying to maul his throat, I think I'll be fine.'_ I think to myself as I finally make myself presentable.

" _Hah! Fat chance of that."_

' _Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kiyohime.'_

" _Anytime, you little brat!"_

Steeling myself for any concerned looks the others might shoot me, I walk into the main room, and sit down, before proceeding as if nothing had happened in the last few days. However, I can detect a slight change in the air, not unlike the calm before a storm. I can sense the change coming from Ryuzaki, who sits beside me at the computers.

' _He's been staring at his cup of coffee for the last five minutes… I should ask.'_ I determine my answer, and wait until we're alone to ask it. "Ryuzaki-kun, are you alright? You seem rather… out of it today."

My words seem to snap him out of his stupor, and he glances at me. "I'm…fine, Mirai-chan."

Sensing a fight already lost, I sigh, and recommend, "If you need to talk about anything, you know you can talk to Watari-san. And, if you feel the need, you can talk to me as well. It's not healthy, for you or those who care for you, if you keep all your feelings locked up."

As if contemplating my suggestion seriously, he nods silently, and continues staring. After a few minutes of my leaving him alone, he gets up, and leaves silently. I wait only until he leaves the room before I silently get up and steal after him. He leads me to Watari's personal computer room, and I stand just outside the door after he goes in.

"Ryuzaki, is something the matter?" Watari asks, turning around. "What is it? What's wrong?"

" _Ooh, it could be something juicy, let's try to hear what they're saying!"_ Kiyohime prods, and I immediately counter her suggestion.

' _Well, we probably shouldn't.'_

" _Why not?!"_

' _Well, first of all, you think it's a good idea. Instant red flag. Secondly, didn't you see how depressed Ryuzaki-kun's been for the last few days? If anything, it's private, and if he feels like it, he'll tell me.'_

" _But that's boring!"_

' _It's what I'm doing.'_

" _Then why'd you follow him in the first place?"_

' _To make sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid.'_ Without letting her retort again, I turn and walk back to the main room. A few minutes later, Ryuzaki comes back in, and continues as if nothing had happened at all. Accepting his silence, we don't say a word to each other for the rest of the day.

A few days later, Ryuzaki's going over the Death Note carefully, seemingly interested in the torn corner of a single page. "Hmm… interesting. The corner of the page of this notebook has been torn off. Can you kill someone just by writing their name on a piece?" He asks Rem.

"Can't say." She replies, avoiding giving away any information. "I've never tried using it like that and I don't know of anyone who has."

"Then let me ask you, do gods of death love apples?"

"Not necessarily. You see, our internal organs have already degraded. We've… evolved to a point where we do not require sustenance."

"Say, Light…" Ryuzaki asks suddenly. "You're finally free to leave headquarters on your own, but it seems like you never go out. Even when Misa comes to visit, you only chat with her for a few minutes outside. You do realize you're free to have a relationship with her now, right?"

My sudden tenseness at that suggestion goes unnoticed by the two parties, and their conversation continues as if I'm not even there.

"That can wait until we've managed to solve this case." Light explains. "I'm not in the mood for love, or anything else right now." _'Then why the hell did you kiss me, moron?!'_ "Anyway, are you suggesting that I'll be a nuisance for staying here?"

"No."

I glance back at them, and I can see Ryuzaki's suspicion of Light begin to climb again. I give a silent sigh, and think, _'Wonderful. Now we gotta do this all over again, just to remove Ryuzaki-kun's suspicions of Light.'_

Later that night, I have a dream, filled with blurry black, white, and gray images.

 _I glance around, faintly hearing chimes in the background. Nothing is clear enough to recognize, until a little girl walks into my field of view with a single doll. Soon, she begins to sing a haunted, creepy tune._

" _Careful what you do." She sings, smiling as she plays with her doll. "The gods are watching your every move. Walk with me down the dark path, with you by my side I'll not stumble back. Even if I'm locked away, and alone, I have no doubts that you'll find me there. You draw me close for a while, so still. You tell me everything. I'll ne'er forget what you say, I'll do anything to see you again. Yes, I want to see you again." She puts her dolls down, and stares at the setting sun. "But what happens when it's been achieved, then what will we do after that? What then?"_

I awake, covered in a cold sweat. The song continues to haunt me for most of the day, and I occasionally find myself humming the tune.

After one such discovery, Mr. Yagami bursts in. "What's going on?! I heard criminals are being killed again!"

We're all gathered around the monitors, staring at the data. "There were sixteen deaths just yesterday. All of them were broadcast after Higuchi's death." Aizawa explains.

Matsuda echoes, "Immediately after, huh?"

"Do you think this could mean that Higuchi wasn't necessarily Kira, after all?" Mr. Yagami contemplates.

"No, it's safe to say that Higuchi was the one killing criminals until we apprehended him." Light responds.

"Then this means that we're dealing with yet another Kira…" Aizawa concludes.

"Oh man, not again!" Matsuda cries dramatically.

Light curses. "Damn, damn you, Kira."

"These killings began just as Misa was freed, didn't they?" Ryuzaki suggests.

"Ryuzaki, are you still going on about that? She has nothing to do with this!" Light counters. "Think about it, this started as soon as Higuchi died!"

"Eh, I suppose you're right. Oh well. If there is another notebook floating around out there, and someone is using it to kill criminals, I'll just have to bring that person to justice."

"Ryuzaki, I've been thinking, even if we do manage to catch the person who's been writing names in the notebook, will we legally be able to convict and punish them for mass homicide?" Light asks.

"What? Of course we can convict them!" Matsuda insists. "This guy's intentionally writing names in the notebook, knowing that these people are going to die! Even if we don't plan on publicly acknowledging the notebook, the least we can do is execute the killer!"

I glance to Rem, whose eyes have widened significantly.

"It's not a humane way to do things, but the higher ups would probably want to take measures like that." Aizawa agrees.

"If they admit to killing with the notebook, they'd receive the death penalty. Or life in prison, at least. That's the best that they could hope for." Ryuzaki concludes.

I look at Rem, and realize that she figured out Light's true plan. _'He's having Misa-chan kill again, so Rem would kill Ryuzaki-kun for him. There's no way that Rem would forsake Misa-chan at this point, so Rem truly has no choice. Manipulative bastard…'_

I glance to Light, and see his smirk. _'Rem has no choice. She's going to kill both Ryuzaki-kun and herself. There is no other way.'_ My breathing hitches, and I try desperately to calm myself before it becomes noticeable.

A few hours later, it begins to rain heavily outside. Ryuzaki stands, and without a word to us, leaves the room. Concerned for the aura of depression around my friend, I get up to follow him. This time, he leads me to the rooftop exit, and calls back, "If it's alright, Mirai-chan, I'd like to talk to you."

I walk out from around the corner I'd been hiding behind to reply. "Alright then." He opens the door for me, and we walk out, in the pouring rain, to the railing, where we stare out over the city. It takes us both a moment before Ryuzaki starts talking.

"I was too young to remember when I lost my parents." He starts, and I turn to him in surprise. "I was taken in to Wammy's House, an orphanage for kids with special abilities, and I grew up mostly alone. The other kids thought I was strange, so I didn't do anything with them. If anything, I spent most of my days and nights crying from the loneliness. Then, one day, I figured out an entire murder case that the police couldn't, and they started to call me L. My deductive reasoning skills were in high demand, and it became my life. Find the interesting cases that the police can't figure out, solve them, and vanish. The orphanage I grew up in began to look for other kids who could become my successor. It was always another new mystery for me to solve, another new puzzle. Then I was called in for the Kira case. I never expected it to take this long." He looks at me. "I still hear the bells from the day I first got to the orphanage."

My eyes stay on him as he finishes pouring out his life story to me, and a thought occurs. _'Why is he telling me all of this? Unless… no, he couldn't. It isn't!'_ Unbeknownst to me, tears begin to stream down my face.

Ryuzaki backs away from the railing, and looks at the sky sadly. "I think I'll need to choose a successor soon. I have no idea which one will be a better fit, though."

I walk over to stand next to him, and look in the same direction as him. A movement from the corner of my eye catches my attention, so I turn to see Light. He says something that I can't hear over the rain, and I see Ryuzaki make the I-can't-hear-you gesture by cupping his hand around his ear. Light tries to yell the same message, but it gets swept away by the wind and rain, so Ryuzaki makes the gesture again. Fed up, Light makes his way towards us, trying to guard himself against the rain.

"What are you two doing out here in the rain?" He repeats for the third time once he reaches us.

"We're not doing anything in particular. It's just…" Ryuzaki looks back towards the sky. "I hear the bells…"

"The bells?" Light echoes.

"Yes. The sounds of the bells have been unusually loud today."

"I don't hear anything."

"Really? You can't hear them? They've been ringing non-stop all day. I find it very distracting. I wonder if it's a church, maybe a wedding, or perhaps a…"

' _A funeral. He really does. He really thinks, no, he knows, that it's going to happen.'_

"What are you getting at, Ryuzaki? Come on, cut it out, let's get back inside."

"I'm sorry. Nothing I say makes any sense, anyway. If I were you, I wouldn't believe any of it."

Silently, I reach for his hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. Ryuzaki glances at me, and gives me the tiniest smile.

"You know, you're totally right." Light responds. "Honestly, most of the things you say sound like complete nonsense. There'd be no end to my troubles if I actually took you seriously all the time. I probably know that better than anyone."

"Yes, I would say that's a fair assessment. But I could say the same about you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Tell me Light, from the moment you were born, has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth?"

After a moment, Light responds. "Where's this coming from, Ryuzaki? I do admit, I stretch the truth here and there, however, find me one person in this world who's never had to tell a lie, it wouldn't be easy. Human beings just aren't made to be perfect like that. Everybody lies from time to time. Even so, I've always made a conscience effort not to tell a lie that could hurt others. That's my answer."

"I had a feeling you'd say something like that." Ryuzaki looks to the ground, smiling sadly.

Something occurs to me, and I break away from both of them to go to the railing. Their eyes follow me, and I do the stupidest thing I can think of. I begin to sing softly, in my accented English.

"It starts with pain, followed by hate, fueled by the endless questions no one can answer. A stain covers your heart, and tears you apart just like a sleeping cancer. Now I don't believe men are born to be killers, I don't believe the world can't be saved. How did you get here, and when did it start? An innocent child with a thorn in his heart… What kind of world do we live in? Where love is divided by hate… Losing control of our feelings, we all must be dreaming this life away… In a world so cold…" They stare at me in mild surprise for a few moments, before I turn back to them, a sad smile in place. "Let's go back inside. We're all drenched."

"Yeah." Light nods, and we go back.

Back inside on a stairwell, we dry ourselves with the towels that were in a nearby room. I twist my hair harshly to strain the water from it, before attempting to towel dry it.

"Well, that was certainly an unpleasant outing." Ryuzaki remarks, walking over to Light.

"It's your own fault." Light chastises. "I mean, what'd you expect?"

"You're right, sorry."

Ryuzaki takes the towel from his head, and goes to dry Light's feet.

"What are you doing?" Light asks hesitantly, with a little hint of embarrassment in his tone.

"I thought I might help you out. You were busy wiping yourself off, anyway."

"Look, it's fine, you don't have to do that."

"I can give you a massage as well. It's the least I can do to atone for my sins. I'm actually pretty good at this."

"Fine, do what you want."

"Alright."

I'm staring at them now, my mind racing. _'Is-is Ryuzaki-kun admitting defeat? Hold up, this is like that one Bible story I read. How did it go? The prostitute washed the feet of the god with her tears, and dried them with her hair, and in exchange, she was forgiven of all her sins?'_

" _Well, damn."_ Kiyohime comments. _"That's pretty much what's happening here. If this isn't symbolic, I don't know what is."_

Some rainwater drips from Ryuzaki's hair onto Light's feet, and he picks up a towel to dry Ryuzaki off. "Here, you're still soaked." Light says, as he towel dries Ryuzaki's hair.

"I'm sorry." Ryuzaki apologizes again.

' _Ryuzaki-kun instigated this, so he's either ignorant of the symbolism of this, or he's doing this intentionally in order to show Light that he has acknowledged Light to be Kira, and Kira to be a god, or I'm reading into this far too much.'_

"It'll be lonely, won't it?" Ryuzaki suddenly asks.

"Huh?"

"You and I will be parting ways soon."

At this very emotionally packed moment, Ryuzaki's phone begins to ring. He answers it. "Yes? … I understand, I'm on my way." And he hangs up. "C'mon, let's go Light, Mirai-chan. It seems like it's all worked out."

On our walk back to the main room, Ryuzaki slows down enough to keep pace beside me.

"Thank you, Mirai." He says, catching me off guard by dropping the honorific. _'I really need to work on that.'_ "Thank you for being my first friend."

I nod, and give him a one-armed hug. "Of course, Ryuzaki. I'll always be your friend."

When we walk into the main room, Matsuda immediately confronts us. "Ryuzaki, what's the meaning of this?! You've somehow gotten permission from another country to use the notebook for an execution?!"

Ryuzaki sits down in his usual stance. "Watari, excellent work, thank you."

"Not at all." Watari accepts the compliment.

"First things first. Please make arrangements to transport the notebook immediately."

"Right."

"Ryuzaki, what're you trying to do?" Light questions.

"I'm going to try out the notebook for real."

An audible gasp fills the room. "We can't do that! And there's no point in testing it, as we already know that the notebook's power is real!" Aizawa protests.

"And besides, who's gonna write the name?" Matsuda adds, desperate to dissuade Ryuzaki. "If someone starts writing in the notebook, they'll have to obey the thirteen day rule and keep writing names forever!"

"It's already been worked out." Ryuzaki reassures them. "The person who will write in the book is a criminal scheduled to be executed in just over thirteen days. If he's still alive, thirteen days after writing the name, he'll be pardoned from execution."

"But still, to sacrifice a life-" Mr. Yagami protests, but Ryuzaki interrupts him.

"We're very close. If we work this out, the entire case will be solved!"

As if in response to his declaration, a bolt of lightning crashes down near us, making the entire building shake. Soon after, all of the screens go dark, before glowing red.

"What is this?!" Matsuda exclaims. "A blackout?"

"Watari?" Ryuzaki calls the name in concern. "Watari!"

The screens then display a single message. "All data deletion?!" Aizawa reads. "What the hell's going on?!"

"I told Watari… to make sure that he should erase all information in the event that something were to happen to him." Ryuzaki confesses, now beginning to shake.

"If something were to happen…" Aizawa echoes.

"Could it be?" Matsuda continues.

"Where's the Shinigami?" Ryuzaki demands.

"Good question, I don't see it!" Mr. Yagami responds.

As my predictions come true, tears spring to my eyes again, and I cover my mouth in horror.

"It disappeared!"

"What's going on?"

Ryuzaki shouts, "Everyone! The Shiniga-" He freezes mid-sentence, before dropping the spoon he was holding. As if in slow motion, I see him falling out of his chair and towards the ground. Without a single thought, I lunge to catch him before he can make contact with the floor.

I fold my legs beneath me, sitting up, and stare at Ryuzaki in horror, as the tears begin to fall from my eyes. Light Joins me on Ryuzaki's other side, and everything around the three of us just seems to fade away, into the background. I can see Ryuzaki seeing his life flash before his eyes, and I myself can almost hear the bells he was describing to me earlier. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Light smirking in victory, and my tears begin to fall harder. I look into Ryuzaki's eyes, and my tears only hasten their pace as I see his eyes finally shining after appearing dead for so long. He stares at Light in horror, and his gaze moves to me, before his eyes slowly, ever so painfully slowly, begin to close.

"No…" I whisper, before leaning in closer to him. "No, Ryuzaki… Please…" My tears don't seem to stop. "Was it truly worth it?" The last phrase I whisper so softly, I myself hardly hear it. I pull up, and my cries begin to get more frantic. "No, Ryuzaki, c'mon, wake up! Stop fooling around! Ryuzaki! Ryuzaki! _Ryuzaki!"_ I pull away entirely, tears completely obscuring my vision. "No… NO!" I shriek, before bolting from the room, my tears and cries of agony and suffering reverberating around me. I don't know where I'm running, but I keep going. Without realizing it, I end up on the rooftop. "What am I…?" I question myself, not expecting an answer.

" _Look, you useless mortal."_ Kiyohime confronts me. _"I need your mind and soul in good condition when I can finally devour them, and since this has probably scarred you emotionally forever, this is all I can do to help. Something's about to fall from the sky onto this rooftop, alright?"_

I glance around, and see a small, white object land close to where Ryuzaki, Light, and I had been standing only an hour prior. I walk over, and pick it up.

" _This is a Death Eraser, they're pretty hard to get, so be grateful for it. With this, you can revive anyone who was killed by the Death Note. Now, I've got an entire plan laid out, alright? So listen up."_ I focus all of my attention solely on her instructions. _"Go find Rem's Death Note, tear out the page with Ryuzaki's name on it, and write a fake, English name on the next page. Hide the page you tear out, and wait until after the paramedics take his body away before reviving him. Better yet, wait until just before the funeral, and replace his body with sandbags in the coffin. Understood?"_ I nod. _"Alright then, what are you waiting for?!"_

I take off, and begin to search every room for Rem's remains. I eventually find a pile of sand in the filing room, with a Death Note resting on top of it. I race over, careful not to disturb anything, open the notebook, flip to the last used page, and read aloud, "L Lawliet. No wonder nobody knew your name, everyone assumed it was already an alias." I glance around, and grab a nearby pen, before writing the name, 'James Lakely', and replacing the Death Note to exactly where I had found it.

I fold the paper, and slip it into my jeans pocket. _'Now what?'_

" _Dude, I'm only saving your friend here, alright? Whether you bring him back or not is up to you. I'm not in control of your life!"_

I then decide something, and race out of the room to the rooftop again. With no reason to, other than to have a reasonable excuse as to where I had gone, I walk over to the railing, and take off my shoes, placing them where I was just standing. I sit on the railing, looking down onto the streets below, looking very similar to a woman about to commit suicide.

I stand there, looking onto the streets below, thinking. Within me, a great debate rages.

' _What's the point in bringing him back? He was our greatest obstacle! With him out of the way, we can create a new world!'_

' _But he was our friend! Our only true friend!'_

' _Sacrifices are necessary to bring about order!'_

' _Isn't there some way to bring him back, but keep him from getting in our way?'_

Suddenly, a third side speaks up. _'You know, that's actually possible. It would be considered cruel to many people, and disgusting by many others, but it is possible. It would satisfy both sides of this argument. He would be brought back to life, and you could see him again, and he would stay out of our way.'_

As the idea forms in my head, I let out an audible gasp. "That's brilliant…" and I begin to fill in all the little details.

Soon enough, however, I hear the door to the roof slam open, and my thought process is stopped by the sound. I quickly file away the thoughts so as to not immediately forget them.

"Mirai, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Light yells as he races towards me. Without giving me a chance to respond, he wraps his arms around me, keeping me immobile. "Don't you dare. Don't you dare try to kill yourself. Everything is finally out of our way, we can finally create a new world, and we can do it together, Mirai."

I take a shaky breath, and say, "Then, pray tell, why did you keep so many secrets from me? Misa-chan being the second Kira, your plans to re-establish Kira after you regained your memories, that _goddamned_ kiss?!" Without my noticing, he'd pulled me back over the railing. "Excuse me for making assumptions, but from all of that, I'd thought you replaced me with Misa-chan."

"What?" He looks at me like I'm the crazy one. "Like she could replace you, she's too stupid to lead the world into a new age. You were the one who came up with the idea to create a new world using the Death Note. You are an essential part of Kira, and you can't be replaced by anyone. So please, don't think about killing yourself. Alright?"

"You won't keep any more essential information from me until last minute?"

"I won't."

"Good. Now…" He takes my hand. "Let's go back in, it's still raining, and you're drenched again."

"Sure, just, one sec." I reach down and slip on my shoes, before I straighten again and move to follow him inside. Instead, he takes my hand and leads me in. I hear Light mumble something under his breath, and I call him out on it. "What was that?"

"Oh, n-nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Light…" I say, threateningly.

He sighs, and grumbles it loudly enough for me to hear. "I don't regret kissing you, though. That wasn't a lie."

My face flushes red, and a small smile makes its way onto my features. I stand in front of Light, facing him, and say, "I don't regret that kiss, either. I just hope you won't regret this one." With that said, before I can chicken out, I grab his head, and press my lips to his. After the initial shock, he responds to my gesture quite willingly. When we pull away, I blush, and give a small smile.

" _Ugh, get a room!"_ Kiyohime complains.

"We'd better get back, before the others get suspicious." Light suggests, and I soundlessly nod.

We walk back inside, and I adopt the look of a depressed girl, mourning the death of her closest friend. I don't respond to any of the other Task Force members, and let Light drag me to my room. Once inside and alone, I change into some dry clothes, and quickly think of the rest of my plan.

' _Though the goal we've strived to achieve for all these months has been reached, I feel like I've been torn to pieces. Friends are truly important, for what purpose is there of creating a new world if it is a world without the people you love? How intriguing…'_

 **Alright! That took a while… So many tears shed…**

 **Anyways, the real reason for this AN! I've entered Kira's Other Half in Inkitt's fanfiction contest! I have a total of… no votes. If you guys could go vote for this story, that'd be great! If not, it's fine, I have no idea what I'm doing anyway, I'm just vomiting words onto a Word document, and apparently people like to read them. Many thanks to anndark for telling me about the contest!**

 **So, there's a link to Kira's Other Half on Inkitt on my profile, if you could hit that heart button there, that'd be great!**

 **Until next we meet!**


	19. Renewal

I pour over every detail, every outcome, and every single little thing that could go wrong. I work tirelessly in order to identify the singular plan that could have nothing go wrong. After several hours, I finally discover it. A large smile breaks across my face, and I let out a quiet, evil laugh.

After a short night's rest, and a few hours of preparation for the sudden funeral, the entire Task Force goes to attend. Dressed in a black kimono, I take a separate car from the others.

"I'd… like to have some time alone with them, and I'd rather not inconvenience anyone by making them wait for me." I give by way of explanation. While Light raises an eyebrow at my mannerisms, no one questions me on them.

I drive by myself to the Western styled funeral home, as we had agreed that Ryuzaki, having been from England, would have preferred the style over the traditional Buddhist funerals we usually have here in Japan. On the way, I call up an acquaintance of mine.

"Is everything ready?" I ask the assistant over the phone.

"Yes ma'am. The dummy's been delivered to the location you requested." He responds.

"Thank you, that will be everything for today. Goodbye!" I hang up after the short conversation, and run through the rest of the plan in my mind. _'That should be everything. I hope to dearest god that I missed nothing.'_

I arrive at the funeral home, and meet the others inside. Quickly enough, we move to the small chapel for a short ceremony. Each of us got up to speak words of parting towards the dead, with myself going last. Throughout the entire ceremony, however, it appeared as if I was in a daze. I was, in a way, though it wasn't because I was saying my final goodbyes to one of my only friends. Rather, it was because my mind was racing at a billion miles an hour to ensure that my plan went perfectly. As such, I don't know what I said.

With the ceremony complete, we move the bodies to a separate room to say our final goodbyes. Again, I go last, this time to ensure that my plan goes smoothly. Once my turn comes along, I solemnly go into the room alone, and close the door behind me. At this point, I drop my façade, and smile like a maniac. I turn to Ryuzaki, and mutter, "Well, Ryuzaki, though our parting was short, I do hope you enjoyed your respite. However, I fear that it has just about come to an end."

I make my way over to the closet, open the door, and pull out the creepily accurate dummy of Ryuzaki. I drag it over to his coffin, and lay it on the floor. I then turn to Ryuzaki's body, and carefully pull him out. Once he's lying on the floor, I carefully place the dummy in the same position that Ryuzaki had been in just a few moments prior. With that arduous task complete, I drag Ryuzaki's real body over to the closet and hide him inside. As I prop him up I apologise. "Sorry, Ryuzaki. You're gonna have to wait a little while longer before I can help you." I close the door, and make myself again appear every bit the mourning friend.

I exit the room, and a few employees go in to close the coffins and take the bodies to the gravesite. We leave the funeral home and follow the hearse to the graveyard. The coffins are removed from the hearse, and taken to the empty graves. As they're lowered into the holes, I allow myself to cry for Watari, knowing how he was like a father to Ryuzaki.

The funeral workers begin to fill in the graves, and we watch in solemn silence. When they finish, they leave, leaving the Task Force to mourn.

After some time, the other members disperse, eventually leaving me by myself with the graves. I kneel down before Watari's headstone, and with tears in my eyes, I apologize. "I'm sorry, Watari-san. You didn't deserve to get caught up in this mess. You were a good man. Quillsh Wammy was your real name, huh? A good man indeed. I'm sorry that you had to be killed, but you wouldn't understand. Peace can only truly be brought about when everyone understands the punishment of their sins."

Now, before the funeral, I had gone over the kimono, and everything else I was wearing to ensure that no bugs or cameras had been placed. After all, what I'm about to do would easily get me arrested on suspicion of being Kira.

After lingering a few more minutes to ensure that no one was watching me, I go to my car, and proceed to drive randomly around Tokyo to throw off anyone who would dare be tailing me. No one can say that I'm not careful. When I get back to the funeral home, I again go over the car to ensure that no bugs, cameras, or trackers had been placed while I was away. With that ensured, I sneak around to the back of the home, and in through the window into the room where I had been only an hour and a half prior. Luckily, it's no longer in use, so I can get in and out quickly. I go to the closet, and drag Ryuzaki's body out, before arranging everything to look normal. I take his body out through the window, and back to my car, strapping him into the passenger's seat. Making sure _again_ that no one was following me, I drive off towards a certain apartment complex that I'd just rented from.

Once I find a parking spot, I jump into the backseat and quickly change into some street clothes that I'd brought along with me, before doing the same for Ryuzaki.

" _Oh gods, your face is priceless right now!"_ Kiyohime roars with laughter as I try not to make this any more embarrassing than it already is.

' _It's necessary. You already know how it is.'_

" _I know, but still! It's hilarious!"_

Rolling my eyes, I only swap his shirt and jacket with one of his many white sweatshirts, before reaching into the back and pulling out a small bottle of sake. I pour a miniscule amount onto a handkerchief, and wipe it around his mouth to give off the scent of the alcohol.

I drag his body from the car, before wrapping his arms around my shoulders as if he's drunk. I walk into the apartment main area with a tired and mildly annoyed look on my face, and any who glanced my way quickly resumed whatever they were doing before, buying the façade. I manage to get an elevator to myself, and hit the seventh floor button. As the elevator dings, signally my arrival, I continue to drag him to the one bedroom flat I'd rented specifically for this purpose. Once inside, I lock the door behind me and drag Ryuzaki towards the bedroom, before carefully laying him on the bed and cleaning the sake from around his mouth.

With that complete, I sit in an armchair I'd dragged in, before taking out the singular page of the Death Note I'd taken from Rem, which proudly displays Ryuzaki's real name.

I pull out the Death Eraser, and with one last glance at Ryuzaki's peaceful state in death, I erase his name. Back and forth, I wipe the eraser, only taking four swipes to remove it completely. I fold the page and hide it in a hidden pocket in my jacket alongside the eraser, and glance back to Ryuzaki expectantly.

It doesn't take long for the reversal to kick in, as he begins to shift and groan. Quickly, I stand to go grab a glass of water for him, along with a generous slice of a cake I'd baked quickly last night. When I return to the bedroom, I see his eyes open, and he struggles to sit up.

"So, you're finally awake." I slump in relief, half having believed Kiyohime was messing with me, that the eraser was fake and I'd have to destroy his body for fear of being questioned. "Took you long enough. We only planned for you to be out a day, and you took this long to wake up." I hand him the water as he struggles to talk, but he eyes it uncertainly. "Relax, it's tap water. Not poisoned or anything." When he still refuses to drink it, I roll my eyes, place the cake on the bedside table, pour a small amount of the water onto my hand, and drink it, before handing him the glass.

After he takes a few gulps, he clears his throat, before asking me, "Who are you? How did I get here?"

My eyes widen in response. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I… was getting onto a jet with… a friend… to go to Japan to investigate… No, first of all, I'd like to know your name. I won't answer your questions until you answer mine."

I raise an eyebrow. "I don't recall you ever being this bold, L." His eyes widen as I call him by both his real name and alias. "Very out of character. Well, if the last thing you remember is getting onto a jet to come here and investigate the Kira case, then you likely don't remember me. My name is Mirai Tsukino, and I was working alongside you for the majority of the case."

"Mirai…" He tries out my name. "It sounds familiar, almost comforting. It's…" He trails off, and his eyes widen marginally in realization. "I know you. You were… my first friend."

"That's right." I sit down on the bed next to him.

"Why don't I remember?"

"It's… a very, very long story." I start. "Are you sure you want to know it?"

"I have a right to know it."

In the depths of my mind, I laugh maniacally, alongside Kiyohime.

" _You've got him right where you want him. Brilliant, brilliant fool."_ She sings my praises, and momentarily, I worry for her sanity.

"You and Wammy-san, though his alias was later changed to Watari, landed in Tokyo, and you began your investigation alongside the Japanese Police Force. Along the way, you infiltrated To-Oh University on a haunch that Kira was attending there. On the day of the opening ceremonies, you met me, and a friend of mine, Light, and decided that we would be… helpful in the investigation. We worked together, and finally deduced where Kira was. We tracked him down, and caught him, only for him to suffer a heart attack, like the rest of Kira's victims. After that…" I make my voice hitch, but continue. "The Task Force, they… they started getting really suspicious of you. Kept asking themselves who you really were. I… a few weeks ago, I overheard them talking about how they thought that…" Intentionally, I trail off, leaving him to prompt me to continue.

"They thought what?" He falls into my trap, and Kiyohime laughs at how well this is going.

"They… thought that you were Kira yourself." I admit, and his eyes widen. I continue before he can interrupt and cross-examine me. "They… planned to kill you, along with Watari-san, because they thought they had proof. They didn't know that I'd overheard them, though. You, Light, and I planned to save you both by faking your deaths, but something went wrong. As evident now, you lost your memory of the last few months, and by the time we were supposed to fake Watari-san's death, they had figured out what we were doing and they…" I hiccup to add to the effect, "they got to him first. At this point, they think you're dead as well."

He looks at me in horror, before becoming very suspicious. "And how do I know that you aren't lying? That you weren't a kidnapper who had killed Watari in order to get to me?"

"I'm no fool, Ryuzaki. That was your alias, too." I add in, thinking quickly. I stare into his eyes to add to my truthfulness. "I'm not stupid enough to think that I could fool you. I'm telling you the truth. The proof of that is the fact that I know your true name, _L Lawliet._ " He stares in shock at me. "You told me your name in case this exact thing happened."

He analyzes me for a while, before looking into his lap. "Why would I do this?"

I've never seen him so dejected, and I look at him sadly. "So you could live, and so we could finish what we started. Now eat your cake, you haven't eaten much of anything in the last few days."

As he hurriedly consumes the Angel food cake covered in whipped cream and strawberries, I ponder. _'What's our next move? What's the next step we need to take?'_

He breaks me from my line of thought by asking, "What was my relationship with you?"

Yeah, _that_ snapped me back into the real world pretty quickly. "I'm… not sure what you mean."

"I understand that you were my first friend, but was there something more between us?"

"E-Eh?!" I'm red by now. And stuttering. Damn it. "N-no! We were g-good friends, n-nothing more!"

"Hmm." He looks away from me. "I see." If I didn't know how to read his slight facial expressions by now, I'd have thought he was indifferent, but no, I see how pleased he is at this development. "Then I suppose this Light is more than just a friend to you?"

"S-shut up!"

Our little banter went on for quite some time, and we got to know each other again. Eventually, I glance at the clock, and pale at the time.

"Oh god, they'll be frantic." I mumble to myself, having promised to be back at Headquarters almost a half hour ago. I gather my stuff, explaining to Ryuzaki all the while. "Today was your funeral, and they expected me back a while ago. Who knows what they'll do if I don't show up soon…" I slip on my shoes, and make to leave, though before I do, I stop at the bedroom doorway, and remark almost off-handedly, "You know, I can almost understand why they thought you were Kira."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"You said so yourself. Kira is childish and hates to lose. You're also childish and hate losing. You're also intelligent enough to have gotten away with it, too." I turn, and make ready to leave again. I call out to him one more time, "You need your rest. Stay in bed and regain your strength, I'll be back tomorrow!"

Before I close the door, I hear him call back, "Good night, Mirai."

I quickly race back to Headquarters, and upon my entering the main doors, I'm attacked by a weeping Matsuda.

"Oh Mirai-chan! We were so worried!" He yells as he practically tackles me, though by some feat of strength, I manage to shove him away from me.

With eyes dead inside, I turn to everyone else, and bow to apologise. "I'm sorry for worrying you all." I turn and silently walk towards my flat.

For the next ten days, I follow a general pattern. Get up, get ready for the day, act dead around the Task Force, check the car for bugs, wiretaps, cameras, or trackers, drive over to see Ryuzaki, talk with him, slowly suggest reasons as to why the Task Force could have thought he was Kira, answer any of his questions with one consistent story, go back to Headquarters, and go to bed. I managed to get through all ten days of that near silently, before I managed to interrupt the Task Force in a conversation.

"It's been ten days since Ryuzaki's funeral. Guess we're not gonna die, after all." I hear Matsuda sigh in relief, and quickly come to a conclusion to hang back a few minutes.

"We know Watari's true identity now, but we never found out anything about who Ryuzaki really was." Aizawa adds, and I hear the slight crinkling of a newspaper, indicating a page being turned.

"Yeah, that's true. Who would've guessed that Watari was actually a famous inventor?"

"The paper says he founded orphanages around the world using the fortune he inherited from his patents." Another crinkling of paper.

"He was a fine man. A hero."

"But it doesn't help us now. We can't continue investigating using this place as our base with L and Watari gone. This is tough…"

After a moment, Mr. Yagami asks, "Light, how's it going?"

"I should be able to transfer the system and most of the information out of here by tonight." Light responds, and I hear him typing on one of the computers. "It's weird though, I almost feel as if I'm stealing."

"That's understandable." I say, my voice monotone, as I walk down the stairs towards them. "You're taking the files from this server without the direct permission of the owners. In many cases, it would be considered theft; however, I believe a reprieve may be allowed in this case."

"Oh, Mirai-san." Aizawa looks over to me, before cautiously asking, "How… are you feeling?"

I stare him in the eye before answering. "I still feel half-dead, but…" I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "I can't dwell on this forever. I can't be of any use if I'm always brooding and wallowing in self-pity. Though I'm likely to be sensitive to the topic, I refuse to be held back by it anymore." My eyes open with a small flash of rage. "In order for me to move past this entirely, I'm going to have to make sure the bastard that killed Ryuzaki is behind bars."

I see them all smile in relief at my confession, thinking I'd finally moved past the incident.

"Good to have you back, Mirai." Light waves me over, and I take the chair next to him at one of the computers, my eyes no longer dead. "I've created a voice filter identical to the one Ryuzaki used. We can use it to make the police think he's still alive, and give them orders like we've been doing so far, but…" He asks the inevitable question. "Who's going to take the place of L? Where will he work from? And what do we do with the notebook?"

"Come on, what're you talking about, Light?" Matsuda asks, strangely enough the voice of reason again. "You and Mirai-chan are the only ones who can take on the role of L."

"I-I don't know. Ryuzaki was killed because he challenged Kira. That's not something I'm eager to do."

I cut in with my thoughts. "You're better suited to this than me. It took my ten days to find my resolve; you're more of Ryuzaki's mindset already."

"Besides, I'd be fooling the people of the world."

"I can understand how you feel, but Mirai-san's right. You're really the only one of us who can do this." Aizawa agrees with me.

Matsuda jumps in. "That's right, even Ryuzaki said so, himself! You would be capable of succeeding L."

I glance over at Light's face, which is hidden from everyone else. He's smirking. After a minute of silence, he decides. "I understand. Alright, I'll do it." Everyone exhales in relief. "But I won't be like Ryuzaki. I won't take big risks like challenging Kira directly to gather clues. It's just not me."

Mr. Yagami nods in agreement. "Yeah, it's probably better if we play it safe. Ryuzaki may have been a little too confrontational."

"In that case," Light continues, "I'll be able to do the same sort of work using both this computer and my own. In fact, it'll be possible for me to act as L in the comfort of my own room. I can be Watari as well. But, it'll be difficult to pull off with mom and Sayu around." He turns to his father. "Things would be easier if I could rent a one-bedroom apartment."

"Well, considering your age, it wouldn't look odd to anyone if I let you move out on your own." Mr. Yagami supports.

"Hey, yeah! And then we'll be able to use Light's new apartment as our new Task Force Headquarters! That's a great idea!" Matsuda encourages.

"All that's left to figure out now is what to do with the notebook." Aizawa states.

"It's really not that difficult." Light responds, shrugging his shoulders. "There's six of us here, and we know none of us will ever use the notebook, so we'll just have one of us take the notebook somewhere and hide it where no one else will ever get to it."

Matsuda slowly raises his hand, as if volunteering, before Aizawa says, "Please Chief. It's gotta be you."

"Uh yeah, Chief! We can count on you!" Matsuda laughs nervously. "You're a pillar of justice, after all!"

"You want me to?" Mr. Yagami asks, almost hesitantly. "Alright."

"We'll avenge Ryuzaki together!" Matsuda declares, looking pumped.

"Yeah. Kira is still out there, somewhere. We'll catch him, that's a promise." They all nod in agreement.

"Well then, why don't we have a little party to celebrate Light becoming L number two?"

"Quit fooling around! Now's not the time for stuff like that." Aizawa scolds.

I shake my head at their antics, and focus in on my thoughts. _'Let's see, now. I'd say that everything's on schedule, and that almost every preparation is complete. There's just one thing though. Ryuzaki did tell me, before his "death", that he had successors. He also grew up at Wammy's House. If I recall correctly, he also said months ago that he grew up in England. Therefore, it's likely that his successors will be there. It's unlikely that there will be more than one Wammy's House in the UK, so that'll make it easier for me to find them and quickly get their identities in case they decide to take action against us.'_

Later that night, via a little letter I'd found on my bed, I meet Light up on the rooftop.

"I suppose you burned the letter, as I instructed?" He asks only when I come into his view.

"Who do you take me for? Misa?" I force a laugh. "Ryuk, good to see you again." I nod in the Shinigami's direction.

"Mirai! Good to see you're still alive." He responds, almost honestly. "Hey, now that L's dead, does that mean you've finally settled the score with him?"

"Yeah." Light admits, a slight hint of sadness in his tone.

"So, in that case, I guess things are going to get pretty boring from now on."

"Not quite." I respond. "This is only the beginning. Everything is out of our way."

"From this moment on, we'll show you the creation of the new world." Light continues for me, before pulling out Rem's Death Note. He also reveals a pen, and hurriedly begins to write down lists of criminals' names.

Over the next few weeks, we write down the name of every criminal we can, including the real names of Wedy and Aiber. Though I should feel bad for their deaths, I don't. It's like another part of my humanity died when Ryuzaki did. We even write down the names of all the Yotsuba group leaders, and I make sure to write down Namikawa's, if only to ensure that I wouldn't spare a criminal simply for knowing them.

"If we're not keeping secrets anymore," Light brings up one day, "I may as well tell you that Misa's moved in with me."

That grabs my attention. "Why? What purpose do you have for keeping her around?"

"She still has the eyes, and for all we know, we might need them again sometime. Besides, she might have taken a piece of the Death Note to make sure I wouldn't dump her."

"You honestly think she'd be intelligent enough to think ahead like that?"

"You certainly don't, but I'd much rather overestimate her than underestimate."

"Speaking of secrets, L told me something the day he died."

"You wait until now to tell me?"

"Hush. I could say the same to you. Anyways, he said that he had to choose his successor soon, but didn't know which one would've been a better fit. That tells me that there's more than one candidate, and that there's more than one person who could take his place. Now they could be fooled by your acting, but we should be prepared for retaliation from them."

"Agreed."

In early December, I inform Ryuzaki and Light, separately, of course, that I had some traveling to do. Over the four weeks that Ryuzaki had supposedly been dead, I'd managed to extract some information from him, including the nicknames of his two successors. Near, and Mello.

On December fifth, I walk up the steps to Wammy's House, grateful that I'd been practicing my English with Ryuzaki in my spare time, having gotten over the worst of my accent.

"Oh, hello!" A woman greets me in English from the front desk. "What can I do for you today?"

"I would like to see Roger Ruvie, please?" I say, forgetting to use contractions while busy translating mentally.

"Roger? Is he expecting you?"

"No."

"Alright, I'm just going to need your name first."

"Mirai Tsukino."

"Of course, Miss Tsukino. Just sit over there, I'll be right back."

She leaves, and I sit on one of the couches. While sitting there, I glance out the window to watch the children play.

"Miss Tsukino?" She comes back, and I turn my attention back to her. "Roger can see you now, just follow me."

We walk quietly through the halls of the orphanage, and the woman leads me to an office, opening the door for me.

"Thank you." I say, nodding to her, before my attention is called over to the old man sitting behind a large desk.

"Miss Mirai Tsukino, is it?" He asks me, and I nod. He extends his hand for a handshake, something I'd luckily picked up on, and I greet him properly. "I'm Roger Ruvie." We sit down across from each other. "Now, what is the reason for your visit today? Are you hoping to adopt?"

"No sir." I take a deep breath, and look down at the desk before responding. "As I believe you know, L is dead."

He straightens up. "Yes, I've been made aware."

"Before his death, we worked on the Kira case together."

"Miss, I find that hard to believe. L never worked with anyone."

"His pride was not so large that he refused to have help."

"Unless you can show me some form of proof that you two worked together, I will have to disbelieve you."

After a moment of thinking, I come to a conclusion, and lift my feet onto the chair, before mimicking Ryuzaki's usual stance. "If he ever sat in any other pose than this, his deductive reasoning would drop by forty percent. He was also an insomniac, and ate about three times his weight in sugar on a daily basis. Will that suffice?"

He stares at me a moment, before nodding slowly, suspiciously. Breathing a sigh of relief, I shift to sit normally. "So, what is the reason of your visit, Miss Tsukino?"

"L wanted me to see his successors, Near and Mello, and tell them a few things. Would it be alright if you could call them here?"

"…Very well." He admits, before getting up and paging them, but by their codenames. I almost sigh at the lost chance.

A few minutes later, two boys come into the room. One of them all dressed in white, even with white hair. The other has chin-length dirty blonde hair, and is dressed in casual street clothes.

"What is it, Roger?" The blonde boy asks the older man, patiently waiting, though still curious.

"It's L. He's dead."

"What was that?!" The boy exclaims, his voice rising in agitation. "Roger, what'd you just say?!"

"I'm afraid L is dead." He repeats, a sad look etched onto his face.

"He's dead?! But-but how?!" When Roger doesn't respond, he leans across the desk. "Was it Kira? Did Kira kill him?! C'mon Roger, you've got to tell me!"

"…Probably."

"But he promised me he'd find Kira and execute him! And now, you're telling me… that he's been killed?!" The boy grabs Roger by the collar.

"I'm afraid so." I cut in, a depressed look back on my face.

He turns his wrath towards me. "And who the hell are you?"

"Mello! Language!" Roger scolds.

"My name is Mirai Tsukino. I worked with L while he was in Japan."

"And how do we know that for sure? How do we know that you're not Kira yourself?!" Mello accuses, stalking towards me.

My face betrays no emotion other than sadness. "Because L trusted me enough to tell me that you were his successors. Were I Kira, not only would L not have trusted me enough to give me said information, but there was no way that I could have obtained it without his express permission. If you'd like more proof, then ask me any questions about L."

"What was his birthday?"

"October thirty first. When we tried to throw him a birthday party, he refused, calling them, 'pointless, I haven't had something so childish in years'. Didn't stop me from baking him a three layered cake, didn't stop him from eating the entire thing in one sitting."

He stares at me a moment, mildly alarmed, before continuing. "How'd he sit?"

"Like this." I get into the position. "He told us that if he ever sat normally, his deductive reasoning would drop by about forty percent."

"What was the most notable thing about his face?"

"The bags under his eyes; they made him look like a panda. He didn't take so kindly to that nickname, so we stuck with his alias."

"What about-" He's interrupted by the sound of falling pieces. I peer around him at the other boy, who holds a puzzle board over his head, pieces falling every few seconds.

"It's obvious that she knew him. She had us summoned here by request. Doesn't look like she was able to solve the case, either. If you can't win the game, if you can't solve the puzzle, then you're just a loser."

Though I bristle at such an insult, not only towards me, but towards Ryuzaki as well, I hold my tongue in check. "It isn't wise to speak badly of the dead, Near." _'Especially when not only their killer, but their best friend, is within hearing distance.'_

After a moment, Mello spins around to face Roger again. "So, which one of us did L pick? Me or Near?"

"He hadn't chosen yet." Roger admits, looking down. "And now that he's gone, I'm afraid he won't be able to."

' _If only you knew…'_

"Mello, listen. You too, Near. Can't the two of you work together?"

"Alright, sounds good." Near agrees immediately.

After a moment, Mello objects. "It'll never work, Roger! We can't do this together. You know I don't get along with Near. We've always competed against each other. Always." After a few minutes where no one says anything, he continues. "You know what? It's fine." That gets Roger's attention. "Near should be the one to succeed L. He's not like me. He never gets emotional. He just uses his head, like it's a game or a puzzle." At that moment, Near completes his puzzle. "And as for me, I'm leaving this institution." He turns to leave, and walks away.

Roger stands up, "Wait, Mello!"

"Don't waste your breath. I'm almost fifteen years old. It's time I started living my own life."

He slams the door, and I sigh. "I'm sorry, had I not come here, it's likely that confrontation would not have happened."

"No." Near states, pulling my attention towards him. "It was likely to happen sooner or later. You only brought the inevitable."

"Of course." I nod half-heartedly.

"If that was everything you needed me for, I'll be going." Near packs up his puzzle, and leaves.

"Was there anything else, Miss Tsukino?" Roger asks, turning to me again.

Something occurs to me, as I begin to continue planning ahead. "Actually, would it be alright if I got to meet some of the other children?"

"Some of L's other successors?"

"Not necessarily, just any of the other children. Though adoption wasn't on my mind when I first came here…" I look out the window, letting my sentence hang.

"Of course, Miss. They're all outside playing right now, feel free to go outside and join them."

I stand. "Thank you, Mr. Ruvie."

I leave his office, and continue on through the hallways back the way I'd came. I talk momentarily with the woman at the desk, before simply sitting outside on the patio, watching as the kids played with a serene smile on my face.

I get onto a plane back to Japan later that night, continuing to plan out my next few steps. Once home after the twelve hour flight, rather than immediately going back to either headquarters or Ryuzaki's apartment, I start making phone calls.

Another few days later, I suddenly show up to the apartment, a suitcase in tow. Upon closing the door behind me, I proceed to talk and pack the few belongings I'd brought for him. "C'mon, we're leaving."

Having regained most of his strength, Ryuzaki peeks his head from around the doorway. "Where to?"

"Another apartment complex, somewhere nicer."

"Why?"

"Cause I can't live at the Task Force Headquarters anymore, little too risky, and cause I refuse to sleep in the same room as a guy I'm not either related or married to."

"You know a marriage license is cheaper, right?"

"I'm not marrying you to save money. Besides, legally, at this point, you're still dead. Can't marry a dead person."

"Unless you're in France, and were engaged to them before they died."

I stop packing, and turn to him slowly. "Seriously?" He nods. "That- that's just messed up." I shake my head to get back on track. "No, I've already made preparations. We'll have more options and opportunities in this other complex." I grab the suitcase, and say, "There's really no point in staying here, anyway. I needed an apartment quickly, and this was the best place I could get on one-night short notice. It's an upgrade, Ryuzaki."

"You keep calling me that. You know my real name now, so why call me by my alias?"

"I'm used to it, and calling you a letter seems a bit too unfamiliar and formal for you. Come on, they'll be expecting us soon."

We drive across the city, and arrive at a much cleaner and modern apartment complex. After checking in and getting to the seventh floor, I open the door to the expansive flat and walk in, inviting Ryuzaki in after me.

After exploring the two bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, dining, family and general rooms, Ryuzaki says out of the blue, "Mirai, there's something that's been bothering me."

"Oh? And what's that?" As I walk around the kitchen, ensuring that there are enough ingredients for any of my outrages, Ryuzaki sits at the island.

"You tell me that I came to a conclusion about Kira's identity rather early on. If that's the case, then why wasn't the entire case solved at that point?"

Here it is. He's bought everything I've given him. What I say now will determine everything. I take a deep breath, and let the prepared explanation come smoothly. "You figured it out after only a few weeks. From what I've heard, you confronted Kira and somehow managed to get away with your life by telling him that you were L. At that point, had he killed you, he would have been revealed. His hands were tied by that simple sentence. However…" I take another deep breath and tried to calm my nerves, "he started talking to you. What he said just seemed to make sense. Soon enough, you started seeing things from Kira's perspective."

"That doesn't sound like me."

"It doesn't. That's how good Kira was at getting inside your head."

"But who was Kira?"

"That guy I've told you about, Light Yagami."

"Then how wasn't the investigation completed at that point? Surely I had enough evidence to arrest him on even a suspicion of being Kira."

"As did the others, and so they did. However, even when he was deprived of any outside information and under twenty-four hour watch, Kira kept killing criminals whose names were just broadcast. He was released and declared innocent."

"But why? If he was Kira, wouldn't he have messed up?"

"Oh, believe me, he did. That's how you managed to track him down so quickly. However," I look down, and let a smile take over my face as I turned my back to him, "there were only a few simple facts that kept the investigation from arresting Light on the spot and having him executed."

"And what would those have been?"

' _Oh, you fool, your mind is so easily manipulated. And here I thought that the great L couldn't be defeated. Oh well. This was certainly more entertaining.'_

" _Agreed. Too bad though, the rising action was fun while it lasted."_ Kiyohime laughs evilly from the back of my mind.

"The first being that Kira was never working alone." I can feel him stare at me in shock. "The others working with him were of such a similar mindset that you could hardly tell them apart. Their killing patterns were distinguishable, though, if you knew what to look for. Light killed criminals who didn't serve enough time, or hadn't repented of their crimes. The second member of the First Kira killed criminals who got away with their crimes due to their social standing, wealth, and power. The third person of the first Kira killed those who had done their time, only to repeat any crime they'd done before."

"You know more of this than any of the others. How?" I hear the curiosity in his voice, alongside a slow realization, and I turn to face him, smile in place.

"Because I am the second part of the First Kira." His look is one of pure horror, though my smile turns sad to keep up appearances. "And you were the third."


	20. Merry Christmas!

**As I've been persuade by my editor, rather than doing an alternate universe that I could do some other time, I'll do a Christmas Special for you lot in thanks for you putting up with my erratic updating.**

 **Kiyohime: You mean,** _ **lack**_ **of updating.**

 **Erm, yes. My distinct** _ **lack**_ **of updating. But hey, I'm rewriting the rest of the series, here. One wrong move at the start of this arc, and they're toast. The burnt kind. If I need to rewrite things in order to accommodate for later interruptions, I'd rather not have to edit and repost. So, continue to bear with us!**

 **Anyways, here's your clichéd little Christmas Special. Enjoy.**

I'm browsing the internet for any new criminal activity around the world, smirking as I see the global crime statistics at an all-time low.

Around the rest of the internet, on all the news articles I see, they all have a recurring theme. "'Tis the season… 'Twas the night before… It's beginning to look a lot like… Oh, the weather outside… Deck the halls… Geez, these guys are never original." I click on another article. "Christmas came early… Oh, I haven't heard _that_ one before." I groan out, sinking deeper into my chair, before subconsciously throwing my legs over my left armrest.

Only a few minutes of mindless internet strolling later, my phone rings. I sit up normally, before picking it up with the usual, "Hello?"

"Hey, Mirai." Light's voice responds, a slight hesitancy in his tone.

"What's up, Light?"

"I was hoping that you'd join me for Christmas this year. You know, since you were sick last time."

"Not my fault! It was legit!" Though being sick to avoid spending time with someone else sounded like a classic excuse, I was actually coughing up a lung last year. Pneumonia, the doctors said. "Just for the twenty fifth, right? I'll check my schedule and get back to you on that."

"Alright. See you."

"Bye."

After quickly hanging up, I glance at my calendar, though as I don't cross off days, it means nothing to me. "Hey, Ryuzaki, what day is it?" I call out into the halls.

"Saturday."

"Of the month."

"The fifteenth."

"You're kidding, right?" I groan.

"Did you forget something?"

"But I was busy with schoolwork! Transferring from Criminology to Psychology actually isn't as easy as some people might think!" I rub my eyes, already feeling tired. "Great, now I've got to act like one of those terrible fathers who forgets everything until the last moment."

Ryuzaki pops his head into my doorway. "So, what did Light want?"

I spin my chair to face him. "He wanted to know if I could join him this year for Christmas. I'd assume for the entire day." At the slight falling of his features, I begin to ask. "There something wrong?"

He looks away, breaking his gaze. "I was kind of hoping that we'd get to spend Christmas together. After all, if you leave to hang out with Light, I'll be here by myself."

My eyes widen. "Oh god." And my hands fly to my head as the stress comes out of nowhere in an avalanche. "If I do that, then my conscience will be nagging me the entire time about how I left you alone on the holidays, and Light's still being watched, so I can't bring you with me, and if I stay, I'll also feel terrible for ditching Light." I slump backwards in the chair, half falling out of it. "If I stay, I'll feel bad. If I go, I'll feel worse."

"You could always fake having Pneumonia again." He suggests, and my stress quickly turns to a small rage on the flip on a coin.

"I did not fake it! That stuff was painful as hell!"

"Right."

"I suppose I could up and leave the country for a few days, but then it'd be even worse!" I groan pathetically, being over dramatic. "Maybe you two could do a contest or something to see who I'd spend Christmas with…" I sit up, before giving Ryuzaki the widest, most innocent eyes I can muster, paired with an innocent smile. "Maybe you two could each get me a puppy, and whoever gives me the better puppy, I'll spend the day with!"

"No." He responds immediately, before giving me a small glare.

"But Ryuzaki-kuuuuun~"

"No. If you got a dog, where would you keep it?"

"In my room!"

"It needs more space than that to run around. It'd be cruel to lock it up in here."

"The puppy wouldn't be alone! You'd be here!"

"Yes, like I would take care of your responsibility. You won't be getting a dog, Mirai."

In a fashion very unlike me, I go to glower in the corner of my room, hugging my knees to my chest as a cloud of gloom settles around me. If this were an anime, I'd be growing mushrooms. "Fine. I'll give up on getting a puppy for Christmas."

"Good." He turns and leaves, and as he walks down the hallway, I hear him muttering, "I wonder how long it'll take her to realize…"

"Oh god." I say as it comes to me. "It's the fifteenth."

"There it is."

I jump up to grab my jacket and wallet, before running out of the flat, calling back to Ryuzaki, "Oh god, I haven't bought anything!"

After a frantic run down to the garage and a quick drive to the nearest mall, I'm standing in the middle of a store when I again realize something.

' _I don't even know what I need to get… Why am I here?'_

From the back of my mind, I vaguely recognize Kiyohime laughing her ass off at me.

Mindlessly, I wander through the aisles, somehow ending up at the stuffed animals aisle of the kids section. Immediately, I spot a large Panda plushie sitting on one of the shelves, and smirk to myself. I make a note of where it is, before continuing to browse the large toy store.

Only a few hours later, I've almost gone through the entire mall looking for gifts, and seem satisfied with the large assortment of candies and toys I've gotten just for Light and Ryuzaki, and the one set of detailed black lace gloves for Misa. I only bought them as an obligation gift, so I couldn't really care less about what she thought of them.

Just as I walk out of the gothic store, speak of the devil and she shall appear, Misa comes around the corner toting five times as many bags as me. And I'm carrying seven!

Quickly, I try to continue walking, _'Maybe she won't see me if I don't look at her…'_ when suddenly, she cries, "Oh! Mirai-chan!" _'Damn it.'_ She runs over to me, though doesn't hug me due to the many bags in her arms. "Are you doing some extra shopping, too?"

"Yeah, I almost forgot to go get gifts for everyone! Thank goodness I remembered in time…"

" _Too bad you had to run into the goth Barbie, though."_ Kiyohime's slight snark I let slip past me.

"So, what're your plans for Christmas, Mirai-chan?" Misa asks, drawing me back to the actual world around me.

"O-oh, nothing's really been set in stone, what about you?"

"Oh, I'm going to spend all of Christmas with Light!" She places both of her hands on her face in a very love-sick manner. "Oh, it'll be so _romantic!_ " _'Yeah, romantic my ass, knowing Light, he won't even respond.'_ Suddenly, Misa turns back to me, an innocent smile on her face. "Though, you are welcome to join us, Mirai-chan!"

And like a switch is flicked, my decision is made. "Thanks for the offer, Misa-chan, but I wouldn't want to impose on your date. You don't need to invite me out of pity; I'm fine with just a quiet day at home."

After multiple tries to get her to stop talking to me, she eventually leaves me alone, and I can go home. I load all my purchases into the back of my car, before driving back to the apartment complex. After a struggle with all my bags trying to go up the stairs, I eventually reach the flat, and quickly run to my room to hide everything.

"Oh, Mirai. Welcome back." Ryuzaki greets from the living room, and go to join him on the couches, reading.

"Oh, by the way, I've made my decision." I say, just as I finish a chapter.

"On what?" He replies absent-mindedly, though I can tell that he's actually paying attention.

"I'm going to be spending Christmas here, with you."

"And what persuaded you to this action?"

"If I spent Christmas with Light, I'd have to also spend it with Misa-chan. Thus, my choice was made for me."

Though he returns to him book immediately, I can see the slight shaking of his shoulders in laughter.

"Yeah yeah, you know you'd have done the same." I shoot back to his unspoken taunt, but I quickly turn my attention to the story in front of me.

Christmas morning. I shoot open my eyes with a smile on my face, fully prepared to act like the small child I'm not. A glance at the clock proudly displays the four AM time, and my smile only grows.

Silently, I creep down the halls towards the kitchen to get the mountains of food ready, and I cook and bake for a good five hours. Only as I'm pulling out a lovely chiffon cake from the oven does Ryuzaki come into my hazardous work area.

"Mirai, how long have you been up?" He asks, looking at the mountains of dishes I'll have to do later.

"Since four. How great a housewife would I be?" I shoot him a big grin as I put the finishing touches on the fruit cake, before pulling out a tray of cinnamon rolls from the oven. "Really glad we got the industrial oven…"

Ryuzaki leans against the counter in his usual white sweatshirt and jeans, and I'm dressed in my usual black and white pyjamas. "Come on," he calls, "there're presents to open."

"Don't you usually wait until after breakfast?"

"No, presents before, stockings after."

"Fine, just a sec."

He walks away to the family room, and after ensuring that nothing will burn the apartment down, I go to join him. Like children, we sit on the floor, passing and pulling gifts towards each other.

"This one!" I pass him a medium-sized box, and immediately laugh at his glaring reaction to the panda plushie.

"Open this one first." Ryuzaki passes me a large box with a detachable lid. Lifting it, I discover the one thing I'd asked for.

"Puppy!" I cry in glee, lifting the black and brown creature from the box and immediately snuggling it. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

"I thought he'd be a good fit for you."

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

"Just remember, he's your responsibility now. You'll have to take care of him."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" With that final repetitive thanks, I put the puppy back in the box before jumping Ryuzaki in a hug.

I only hold the brutal embrace for a few seconds before letting go and turning adoringly to the innocent creature, letting Ryuzaki gasp for precious air.

"I'll name him Genzai!"

"You're going to name him present?"

"My parents named me future. Besides, he was a gift from you! Doesn't present mean _present_ in English? And _present_ also means _gift!_ So hah!"* I go back to pick Genzai up again, and snuggle him gently, giggling as he licks my cheek. "Tee hee hee! He loves me already!"

Genzai continues to kiss my face, when I ask, "Ryuzaki, where were you keeping him all this time?"

"He only arrived a couple days ago. Since then, I've been hiding him in my room."

That drew away my attention from the excited puppy. "How've you kept a young puppy in your room for three days without me noticing?"

"It wasn't that hard, you aren't all that observant."

"I take offense to that!" Genzai barks, bringing my attention back to him, and I immediately drop all my anger at the puppy's innocent face. "Daww, he's too cute!" I pick him up and snuggle him again. "At least you love me, don't you Genzai?"

He barks in response, and I laugh again. "How'd you know I wanted a Doberman?"

The look on Ryuzaki's face is surprising. The shock on his face is noticeable to the _untrained_ eye. "He's a Doberman?"

"Y-yeah… did you not know…?"

His eyes widen as I start to laugh at him. "You'll tell no one."

"No promises have been made this day!" I continue to laugh for a few moments, before calming down enough to thank him again. "Thank you, Ryuzaki. This is the best present I could've hoped for."

"You're welcome, Mirai."

I gaze adoringly at the newest tenant of our flat. _'Yeah. I definitely made the right choice.'_

 *** All the italicized words in that sentence are in English.**

 **Alright, there you go! Now, this is a raging debate between me and my editor. By next chapter, the five year gap will have passed, and we're fighting over whether or not for Mirai and L to keep Genzai. So leave your vote in the comments! Keep the Doberman Pinscher puppy or give him away?**

 **(P.S. Next chapter will arrive quickly in the new year!)**

 **(P.P.S. Kiyohime starts swearing a lot in the next chapter. I apologize for any discomfort that might cause.)**

 **Merry Christmas, everyone!**


	21. Kidnapping

"You know, Mirai," Ryuzaki begins, we'd decided a few years back to simply drop the honorifics entirely, seeing as how we were living together, "I somehow still have a hard time believing you over the fact that I'm Kira."

"You're still on that?" I ask, disbelieving. "What reason do you have to doubt me?"

"Well, the fact that yours is the only side of the story that I've heard." He counters, and I turn from putting away the groceries towards him.

" _Is it just me,"_ Kiyohime comments, _"or do a lot of these important conversations happen in the kitchen?"_

"Who else could you listen to?" I retaliate, leaning against the counter. "Watari was killed, the Task Force thinks Kira killed you before they could, and Light's still under surveillance. And that's just about everyone involved, so who else could you hear the story from who hadn't heard it second-hand?"

"And if I leave, I might be recognized, I know." He finishes, and groans rather childishly. "But five years is a long time to be in hiding, Mirai. Even I wasn't meant to be confined in a seven hundred square foot flat for this long."

"Hey." I walk over to him and place a hand on his shoulder. "When they stop trying to investigate us, we can go travel the world. We did forward your inheritance to an untraceable off-shore account, right?"

"What do you take me for? Of course I did."

"Right." I smile pleasantly, before dropping my hand from his shoulder. "Any idea of what you want for proof that I can bring back?"

"A… recording of some kind should work. Just be sure that the recording is recent."

"Sure, sure." At this time, my phone begins to buzz. I walk over to check my messages, when a notification of a new text pops up. As I read it, I comment to Ryuzaki, "Sayu's inviting me over for tea in a few minutes. If you have to, entertain yourself with the Wii, for all I care."

Four years ago, only about a year after Ryuzaki's supposed "death", I'd quit the Task Force under the excuse that we'd gotten nowhere in a year, and that they should only call me in whenever they had a breakthrough on the case. As Light and I'd been more careful since the day Light took over as L, it wasn't likely to happen. I'd also switched majors, from criminology to psychology, if nothing else than to learn other ways to brainwash people. As I was no longer a detective, and Sayu was bored one day and flipping through her contacts, she'd called me to hang out. Over the last three and a half years, some would say that we've grown somewhat close.

" _Who are you explaining this to?"_ Kiyohime asks, quickly drawing me from my mental narration. _"I'm the only one who can hear you, genius."_

Turning away from Ryuzaki, I roll my eyes at her snark, before going to grab my purse and a single sheet of the Death Note to hide in a sewn pocket inside my purse lining. Yes, I did take the idea from back when Light was under surveillance and we worked closely together.

Slipping on my jacket, I only stop to slip on my shoes again and pet Genzai, who's taken to watching the door whenever I leave. I turn back into the apartment, and call in, "I'll be back in a while! Don't do anything stupid!"

"You either!" Ryuzaki calls back, and with our interesting farewell exchanged, I exit the flat and head down the stairs to the apartment complex garage.

A few minutes later, I pull up in front of the Yagami house, and quickly get out to knock on the door. Surprisingly, Light's the one to answer it.

"Oh, Mirai. What brings you here?" He asks, a look of surprise of his face.

"Sayu-chan invited me over for tea, today." I shift to a more comfortable position. "What about you? What brings you to your old home?"

"The same reason, in fact. Come on in." He steps aside, and leads me to the family room. Though I want to kiss him right then and there, I restrain myself. For all I know, Misa could be right around the corner, watching. So long as she has her memories of the Death Note and continues to stick to Light like an over protective girlfriend, I can't so much as even work with him as Kira.

Those present, being Matsuda, Mr. Yagami, Mrs. Yagami, and - unfortunately - Misa, all turn to see who had entered. Upon seeing me, Matsuda smiles and greets, "Oh, hey Mirai-chan! Haven't seen you in a while."

I smile back, and give a little wave. "Hello, Matsuda-san, Yagami-san, Yagami-san, Misa-chan." I greet each of them in turn - and no, I did not repeat a name, I was referring to Mr. and Mrs. Yagami in turn - before sitting on the other side of Misa and simply joining in on their conversation about the Kira case.

"But still, it's impossible to censor everything on the internet, and besides, we haven't had any new leads in a while." Mr. Yagami states, continuing their conversation.

"But posting names and faces online? I'm sorry, but if you ask me, it's the people doing that who deserve to die." Matsuda argues, using hand gestures all the while. After a short pause, he continues. "But.. I guess that's never gonna happen. Kira gets a lot of his information from the internet, so he's not gonna kill those people."

Misa laughs. "Matsu, you silly, you've got it all backwards!"

"Still," Light cuts in, "I can imagine how some people must feel, to them, the world's become a good place for people who don't commit any crimes, or rather, it's a good for innocent people who lead good lives." From behind Light's seat, Ryuk laughs.

Mrs. Yagami walks over with a tray of teacups, and distributes them to each of us. "Are you still talking about that Kira business? Please, give it a rest for one afternoon, dear. Light, you too."

We hear the front door open, and Sayu's voice calls, "I'm home!"

Misa stands up and waves her hands in some odd greeting. "Hey, how's it going?"

"We were just having tea." Mrs. Yagami explains to her daughter.

"Oh, Light, Misa-san, seems like it's been forever, you two." She greets. "Missed you guys."

"Aww, we missed you too!" Misa gushes.

"Mirai-chan, glad you could come!"

"Glad to be here." I respond with a pleasant smile. "Guess I was a little early, though."

"And you must be… Matsuda-san, right?" Sayu guesses, looking at him.

"U-uh, that's me!" He laughs nervously.

"Wow, it's been a long time." She bows. "Thank you for always taking such good care of my father."

"Gee, Sayu-chan, you're all grown up. A-and pretty." While the first comment was acceptable, the latter got Matsuda the heated, protective glares of almost everyone in the room. "Last time I saw you, you were this big."

Misa bursts out laughing. "Matsu, your face is going bright red!" She points, and I let myself laugh at his misfortune.

"It is?! I mean, no way!"

"Well, you can forget it." Mr. Yagami states. "I'll never let Sayu marry a cop!"

"Yes, that's right." Mrs. Yagami nods along. "I'd never want that for my daughter."

"Really?" Matsuda continues. "Aw man, I never got the chance to propose or even tell her I like her! You're too cruel to me, Mom and Dad."

Even I giggle at Mr. and Mrs. Yagami's shocked reactions to that.

"Anyway, I think you'd be a good catch, Mr. Matsuda." Sayu tries to console him.

"What? Y-you really think so, Sayu-chan?"

"Yep! In fact, I was thinking that if you were a little younger, I might've considered going out with you sometime."

Matsuda quietly wails in anguish while Light and I laugh.

"Guess my little sister's all grown up, isn't she?" He comments, smirking.

"She certainly is." I agree.

"No kidding! She's certainly more mature than Matsu!" Misa giggles again, not one to be left out. Mr. Yagami glares at Matsuda momentarily, before softening his gaze. Meanwhile, Misa grabs Light's arm in a tight embrace. "Meanwhile, Light hasn't changed one bit! You're just as wonderful and handsome as when I first met you!"

My anger towards Misa flares up again, but I hide my grimace behind my teacup.

"You've already got a career and everything, make it official." Sayu advises her brother. "Stop living together secretly and just get married already."

"I think that's a great idea!" Misa smiles widely, latching onto the idea.

" _Daww, how heartwarming. It makes me sick."_ Kiyohime pretends to gag from my mind, and I let a small smile peek onto my face.

After I visit with them for a few hours more, Mr. Yagami gets a call on his cellphone. "Yes, what is it, Aizawa?" He greets, listening carefully. After a pause, he gasps and tenses, before responding, "Yes… Right, okay." He hangs up, before commanding, "We have to go. Matsuda. Light. Come with me."

In a hurry, the three men leave without another word to us.

"I wonder what that's about." Misa ponders aloud.

"No clue." I respond, before pulling out my phone and checking the time. "Oh, it's gotten pretty late, I should be getting home soon."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Yagami asks.

"Yeah, I have a list of things I need to do before bed tonight." Quickly, I bow to thank her. "Thank you for having me over. I had a lovely time."

"Of course, Mirai-chan dear. Anytime."

With my goodbyes done, I quickly go home to my flat. Immediately upon entering, I call out, "Something's wrong with the Task Force. Yagami-san, Matsuda-san, and Light had to leave in a hurry."

"I thought you were having tea with Sayu-san?" Ryuzaki calls back, and I quickly pet Genzai after I fold my jacket, before jogging to my room with the Doberman hot on my heels.

"I was, the others just happened to be there too. Can you hack into their data network to see what's going on?"

"On it."

While Ryuzaki's taking care of that, I hop onto my own computer to attempt my own hijacking.

Only a couple minutes later, Ryuzaki calls, "Found it!"

"I'm still working past their firewall, how'd you get through so quickly?"

"A simple amount of skill, dear Mirai. It seems that the director of the NPA, Kanichi Takimura-san, was recently kidnapped."

"Any ideas on suspects or motives?"

"Not from them, but I'm starting a list."

We call information back and forth like that for a few hours, until I somehow fall asleep in my chair, sitting up.

By the time I wake up the next morning, I find myself covered in a blanket, with Genzai sleeping right on top of my feet. I glance to my wall clock, which displays the early time.

Suppressing a yawn, I call out, "Any new developments in the last seven hours?"

When I don't get a response, I stand up, which upsets Genzai from his sleeping place. I could swear that he glares at me, before dutifully following me across the hall to Ryuzaki's room. Without a sound, I slowly open his door, to see Ryuzaki curled up on his chair, fast asleep.

I smile, before stripping his bed of the blanket, and draping it over him, before silently sneaking out again and closing the door behind me.

I run around the flat to ensure that everything's ready for the day, before I get another text from Sayu.

"Bored, didn't get to talk to you much yesterday. Girls day out?" I read aloud, before quickly composing an affirmative response. After leaving a note for Ryuzaki to find whenever he wakes up explaining where I'll be all day, I grab my purse and head out.

I meet Sayu in a nearby park, waving at her to get her attention before walking over to her.

"Hey Mirai-chan!" She greets, a grin in place.

"Hey, Sayu-chan. Man, I haven't seen you in an entire day! How time does fly…" I place a hand on my cheek over dramatically, before we both burst into giggles. "Any plans for us today?"

"Actually," she links her arm with mine, and begins to lead me somewhere, "I do! I've got a whole list of things to do today, just you and me!"

I blink at her for a moment, before smiling. "Sounds great, Sayu-chan! Where do we start?"

She leads me all over the city, we go for manicures - which aren't so painful when you have a good friend along with you - roller skating, lunch and dinner at some fast food restaurants, a movie, and finally finish off the day with ice cream. Only after the sun sets do we finally walk home together, talking and laughing all the while.

"You know, I had a lot of fun today, Sayu-chan. We should do this more often." I tell her as we walk.

Sayu makes a noise of agreement. "Yeah, we should! Tonight was great- MMPH!"

At the younger girl's sudden grunt, I spin to face her, and see two large guys standing next to her, one covering her mouth with a rag.

"Let her go!" I cry, before trying to punch the one holding her. Sayu continues to struggle, but her limbs gradually fall limp. I continue fighting, even going so far as to bite both of the attackers. The one not holding Sayu grabs my fist, and tries to push me to the ground. Instead, I flip our positions and wrestle him almost to the ground, but he quickly gets up and restrains my arms behind my back.

"Man, let's just take her, too! If we don't scram soon, we'll draw attention!" The first guy calls to his companion in English, and I start kicking my legs out to try and free myself from his hold. Instead, the first guy comes over with a rag on his hand, and presses it over my mouth and nose. Assuming chloroform, I don't inhale. However, he keeps the rag pressed over my face for a good three minutes, and against my will, my body forcibly inhales the chemical. Almost too quickly, my vision fades in and out, as does my strength.

"Damn… you…" I tell them in English, just before I completely pass out. _'Light, help us.'_

By the time I open my eyes, I have a splitting headache, severe nausea, and what feels like a hangover. It certainly doesn't help that I can hear someone yelling in the background.

"What the hell is this? Mello told you two to kidnap Sayu Yagami, no one else!" A voice yells in English, and I almost groan at the severe pulse of pain it causes.

" _Moron, I can't leave you for one damn day without you getting yourself shot, or kidnapped, or have one of your friends killed. I never signed up to babysit you!"_ Kiyohime whines from her perch in my mind.

' _I never wanted you for a fucking babysitter.'_

" _Ooh, someone grew a backbone! I'm so proud!"_

"She wouldn't leave the kid alone! We didn't have a chance to grab her by herself, so we had to take them both." A second voice debates, also in English. "If we didn't, she might've ratted us out to the cops early!"

This time, I actually do groan in pain, before forcibly prying open my eyes to see where I am. I glance around, seeing what appears to be the inside of a jet. "The hell…?" My throat is dry, and my voice sounds scratchy. The itch talking causes makes me cough violently. "The hell is this? Some kind of prank?"

"I-I d-don't think i-it's a prank, M-Mirai-chan…" Sayu stutters out in a quiet voice.

"Who the hell do you think you are, kidnapping us?!" I yell out in English, before breaking into another violent coughing fit.

"Oh, so the older woman wakes." A guy, flanked by the two guys who'd kidnapped us, walks into sight. He walks over to me, and kneels to be at eye level with me. "Tell us, sweetheart, who are you?"

"Do you all speak English? It's not my first language, so I'm sorry if my replies are slow."

"What's your name, girl?" The guy in front of me pulls out a gun and points it at me.

Not for fear of my own life, rather in fear of Sayu seeing me regenerate half my face, I respond with an actual answer. "My name is Mirai Tsukino."

"Give us one good reason why we shouldn't kill you right here and now. After all, we don't need you for a hostage. You're just a mistake. So tell us, why shouldn't I just shoot you through the forehead?" He holds the barrel to said place, and I force myself to take a deep breath.

"You said Mello, right? He's your boss?" The guy's face doesn't betray any emotion, so I press forward. "We've got a history together, me and him. Kill me, and he loses a valuable piece of information. From what I gathered, he was jealous of Near. Likely, they're working separately at this point, if anything, to catch Kira. I was the last person in contact with L before his death, so I have valuable information that Mello will need to catch Kira first."

After a few tense minutes, the guy pulls the gun from my head, and returns it to his pocket. "You get to live until you see Mello. He'll choose whether you live or die."

When the three goons leave us alone, Sayu starts crying. "M-Mirai-chan, are you al-alright?"

"I am unharmed, and from I can see, so are you. So why are you crying?"

"My friend just had a gun pointed at her! Excuse me for feeling worried!"

I stare at her for a moment, before I burst out laughing. After a moment, when I realize that she's staring at me like I'm insane, I explain. "Sorry, you just sounded like a _really_ sassy acquaintance of mine. It was kinda weird."

Throughout the rest of the seemingly endless trip, I try to keep Sayu's spirits up by telling silly stories involving Genzai and whatever else I can think of. Along the way, I realize only that Sayu's taking this much harder than me. Then again, what could I be afraid of? It's not like they can kill me with Kiyohime still hanging around.

"What do you people want from us and our families?!" I yell out at some point. "Money?!"

The only response I get is a kick to the jaw from one of the goons, and them yelling at me, "Shut it!"

And so I do. The entire rest of the trip. I don't talk, I don't grunt, I hardly respond to anything and anyone other than Sayu.

We're dragged from the plane into a car, and driven to another location, before being led underground. All the while, I simply satisfy myself with glaring at anyone who does so much as look at me funny.

Soon enough, we're thrown into a room, and told to wait. And so, I bide my time, trying to remember all the corners we were dragged around, and attempt to form an escape plan.

After some time, the door opens to reveal an older teenage guy with blonde hair down to his shoulders, holding and eating chocolate. My eyes widen as I recognize him visually.

"Ah, Mello, you've grown since I last saw you." I say in accented English, trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah, my men told me you said you knew me. Refresh my memory though, cause I don't remember you at first sight." Mello shoots back, giving me a subtle glare. In response, I smile.

"My name is Mirai Tsukino. I was the last one in contact with L before his death, and I was also the one to inform you of this fact four years ago." I smile sweetly, tilting my head to the side and closing my eyes innocently.

He smirks, and snaps off another piece of chocolate. "Hah, they caught a Task Force member and didn't even know it. If Sayu's not enough of a bribe, you certainly will be." He spins to walk toward the door. "This is better than I thought."

"A bribe for what?!" I yell out before he leaves, and Mello looks over his shoulder at me.

"For the notebook the Japanese police have in their custody."

My eyes widen in realization. "So that's what this is about. But why would you need to kidnap us? You already have NPA director Takimura."

"We don't, anymore. Turns out he managed to commit suicide while we weren't watching."

' _Light, you moron! That was you, wasn't it?!'_

"So Sayu was take two, and I just happened to come along for the ride?"

"That about sums it up. Don't worry, you two won't be here for more than a few days." As if he's done talking to us, he pulls out a phone and dials a number. After a few rings, the other end picks up, and Mello starts speaking. "Your daughter's finally arrived. It's about time… You already have a pretty good idea of where we are, don't you? We'll make the exchange here. Come to LA, by yourself, in two days. And of course, bring the notebook with you… How about this? I'll send you another photo. That should satisfy you." After that one sided conversation, he hangs up, before walking over to Sayu and dragging her by the arm out of the room.

"Mirai-chan!" She yells frantically, fearful tears running down her face.

"Sayu-chan!" My surprise turns to anger. "Let go of her, you bastard!"

The door closes behind them, and I turn my focus inwards.

' _Kiyohime, pleeeeeaaase? Please let me snap the bonds and beat them up!'_

" _No matter how much of a bad idea it is, it'll certainly be funny to watch."_

I feel her power flow through my veins, and I quickly snap my rope-bound hands to charge after Sayu and Mello.

I run through the halls after them, following Sayu's now muffled cries. I eventually get to a main room, where I see Sayu, bound and gagged, in front of a TV. Mello takes a picture of her, and I make a snap decision.

' _This is stupid. This is moronic. But I'm doing it anyway!'_

I charge into the room, directly towards Sayu, before grabbing her, throwing her over my shoulder, and running in the opposite direction.

"Morons, don't just stand there! Get them!" Mello shouts, sending the five goons around him after us.

" _What was your plan, dumbass?!"_ Kiyohime yells at me as I run around a corner. _"Run away and hope that the door's unlocked?!"_

"This was not well thought out…" I mumble as I round another corner, before getting bowled over by one of the goons.

"Gotcha!" He yells, before grabbing me by my hair. I yelp in pain, before scrambling back with him. "Thought a stunt like that would work, didja?"

"Well, _evidently,_ it didn't!" I shoot back.

The guy drags us back, throwing me onto my face in front of Mello, and Sayu off to the side.

"What did you think you'd accomplish by doing that?" Mello asks, one eyebrow raised, unimpressed.

I smile innocently, and hold up my empty hands. "To do three things. One: prove how strong I am. Two: prove how weak those bonds were. Three: get the attempted and futile escape out of the way so I don't have to plan anything elaborate, because honestly, I'm exhausted. Just put some chains on me and call it a day."

He stares at me for a minute, and I can't read his expression. Eventually, he turns away, and commands, "Cuff her."

They don't throw me back into that room this time, instead keeping me in view. A smart move on their part, but it's not like I'll try anything else that stupid.

" _Admitting you have a problem is the first step to solving it."_ Kiyohime calls sagely, but I can see her jibe coming. _"Though, stupidity might be chronic with you humans."_ There it is.

Sayu gets tied across from me on the other side of the room, but I can see her scared tears from here. This time, I can't do anything, so I just send her a tired smile, before slumping against the pole I'm held against, and decide to rest my eyes for just a few minutes.

I wake up with a start, a stiff back, and a groan. I look around me to see the many goons around me talking and laughing, just hanging out like nothing's wrong.

To myself, I smile, gladly thinking of everything I can do to annoy the hell out of them.

" _Oh god, you're going that route. They might try to kill Sayu, you know."_

' _She's a hostage. They might threaten her, but they won't kill her. If they do, I'll stop.'_

And thus, I started their day of hell.

I babbled complete nonsense for hours on end, I sang off-key, and I teased them excessively and mercilessly. They kicked and punched me a few times, and I'd stop until they sat down again, only to start again immediately.

After a particularly nasty beating that ended with me spitting blood, I glance over to Sayu to see an unvoiced question in her eyes. _Why the hell are you doing this?!_

I smirked back at her, the answer entirely in my smile. _To make them mad!_

" _No, she's right. Why the hell are you doing this?"_

' _If I make them angry enough and still don't die, no matter how many times they shoot me, they might freak out and let us go.'_

"… _There's no way that'll happen."_

' _I can hope, can't I? Besides, I don't feel like being one of those snivelling victims who does nothing but sit in the corner and cry.'_

Thus, my merciless assault on their sanity came to a standstill when one of the goons got up, and instead of coming over to me, walked over to Sayu, pulled out his gun, and pointed it at her. "Shut it, or the brat gets it."

The presence of a gun actually shut me up, and I keep my mouth closed for a long while, the goons breathing sighs of relief.

A few hours later, I start up again, the threat of a gun long forgotten.

"Someone, gag her please." Mello yells at some point, and the three that come over to shove rags into my mouth and tape it shut seem only too happy to do so.

At that point, I experiment to try and get the gag off of me, by shoving the rags into my cheeks and licking the tape to try and loosen it. When that doesn't work, I move everything back into a comfortable position, and slump against the pole in defeat, my eyes closed in thought.

' _Hey… Kiyohime…?'_

" _What do you want?"_

' _Getting the eyes of a Shinigami takes away half of a human's remaining lifespan, right…?'_

" _Yeah, what about it?"_

' _Do they die from diseases or accidents?'_

" _Either or."_

' _So they don't make it to old age, right?'_

" _What are you going after?"_

' _I can only die from old age, right?'_

"…"

' _Kiyohime?'_

" _Oh my god. Oh my fucking god."_

' _You see my train of thought.'_

" _Oh my damned fucking god."_

' _So, if I were to get the eyes, would I lose half my lifespan, especially if I trade it to you?'_

" _You little cheating bitch. Now I'm curious! Do you want the eyes?"_

' _Yes.'_

" _Even if it costs half your lifespan?"_

' _Yes. Kiyohime, make the deal.'_

" _Alright then."_ She laughs, and I feel a burning sensation behind my eyelids, before a wave of pleasure follows. _"Open your eyes, I want to see if it worked."_

I do so, and almost everything has a slight red tint. I turn to look at everyone around me, and above their heads, I see names and numbers.

' _Is this the power of the Shinigami eyes?'_

" _Pretty much. You see the names needed to kill them, and their remaining lifespans. They should be counting down. You won't see the lifespans of the Death Note owners, though."_

' _As I don't own a Death Note, will someone else be able to see my lifespan?'_

"… _Yes, you fucking cheater."_

If I could, I'd be smiling wider than the Cheshire Cat from that old English cartoon.

' _Anyway, how's my lifespan?'_

"…"

' _Kiyohime?'_

" _I CALL HACKS, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"_

' _So I take it my hypothesis was correct?'_ Her grumbling is enough of an answer for me, and my shoulders begin to shake in unvoiced laughter. _'This is perfect! Misa won't be able to see that I have the eyes, and I didn't lose half my lifespan!'_

Kiyohime grumbles some more as I try, but ultimately fail, at laughing maniacally. With tears of mirth running down my face, I wipe them off on my shoulders, before looking at every person present, and committing each and every one of their names and faces to memory.

' _I'll kill each and every one of them when I get home.'_ I determine, plans forming in my mind.

The next morning, I'm snapped awake by Sayu's muffled screaming. My eyes immediately search her out, and upon seeing her being dragged away by two large guys, I start struggling and yelling, though I can't form any words around the gag.

Tears of frustration run down my face as they drag her away, and I'm powerless to stop them.

"Relax, she'll be fine." Mello says, coming into view. I glare at him with enough hatred to kill someone, and I let my eyes stray above his head to see his name. _'Mihael Keehl. Odd name, but not one I'll forget.'_ "They're just sending her to be exchanged for the notebook in an undisclosed location for safety reasons."

I make a bunch of muffled grunts, and his eyes stray to my taped mouth.

"I'll only take off the tape so long as you agree to help me. As you've probably guessed, I want to take down Kira before Near. If L thought that you, as a mere civilian, could help with the investigation, I see no reason why you couldn't now. Do you agree to my terms?"

Reluctantly, I nod. I don't want to help this criminal, but in order to do what I want, I need to have my mouth free and open. In one swift motion, he reaches down, and none too gently rips the tape off of me. With the grace and poise of a street child, I spit the wad of rags out of my mouth to the ground, away from Mello.

"My thanks for freeing me." I say, a reluctant thanks actually hidden in the comment.

"No problem. But keep annoying us, and the gag goes back on."

"Understood." I sigh, and lean my head down. "Before I can help you, there are a few things I want cleared up. Can you answer my questions?"

"Depends on what they are." He sits down on one of the couches, facing away from me. "Go on, sweetheart. Nothing stopping you now."

"If you only needed to kidnap Sayu for this operation, why'd your men bother taking me?"

"You were making too much of a fuss, would've drawn attention."

"Sayu's about to be exchanged for the notebook, correct?"

"Yeah, I just told you."

"And you only kept me because you thought I might be helpful in the investigation."

"Right."

"So the moment you catch Kira and the investigation ends, you'll kill me?"

"I'm not inhumane. I'll just send you back to Japan. No one knows you're gone, anyway."

"My neighbors do. I talk to them every few days or so, have them convinced that I'm in the Witness Protection Program. If I don't contact them within seven days, they were instructed to contact the police immediately. Last I talked to them was… four days ago now."

' _Total lie. Then again, who knows what Ryuzaki will do if I don't get back in time? He might reveal himself or do something else stupid.'_

"How often do you talk to them?" Mello asks, getting settled.

"Once every three or four days. So, I'm about due."

"Fine, then." He pulls a phone out of his pocket. "What's their number?"

"Zero three eight one nine two seven six four." I recite my own home number, hoping he doesn't catch it.

He types it in, not questioning it. After a moment, he stands and walks over to me, and holds the phone next to my mouth and ear.

' _Alright, Mello understands Japanese fluently, probably, possibly not, but I can't take that chance, so I can't do anything obvious. Here's hoping Ryuzaki picks up and plays along…'_

"Hello…?" Ryuzaki's undistorted voice comes through, and I'm glad he actually picked up to my number.

"I'm super sorry to wake you, Kita-san." I use his alias' alias. This could get confusing. "I totally forgot to tell you before I left, and I only just arrived! I'll be travelling the Americas for the next while, and I'm not sure when I'll be back. Might not be able to contact you for a while, either."

"Oh, Tsukino-san, I was wondering when you'd call." He falls into the act immediately. "I'm glad to know you're alright." _'Translation: Thank god you're alive, you moron.'_ "Is there anything else you'll need?"

"If you could just make sure that Genzai is properly fed while I'm gone, that would be great. Thank you very much, Kita-san!"

"Of course, Tsukino-san. Goodbye, and have fun on your trip!" _'Translation: Don't do anything stupid.'_

"I will, thank you! Goodbye!"

I move my head away from the phone, and Mello hangs up for me.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, we can get started." He picks up a headset and puts it on, before cracking his knuckles. "Let's do this."

We wait a few minutes, Mello receiving some updates and giving out some orders, and I try to get myself up to speed.

"Yagami. Right now, you're the only one who can hear my voice." Mello says in Japanese, and I confirm my haunch to be correct. "Listen very carefully. I'm the one who kidnapped your daughter, but don't get the wrong idea. I have no interest in your daughter's life one way or the other, or yours for that matter. There is only one thing I want and you know what that is; the notebook. Now, all you have to do is follow my instructions. If you do that, no one has to die. As for the trade, I prepared the things so that both of us can walk away satisfied. Play along, and there'll be no problems."

' _Yagami, daughter, therefore, Yagami-san is the one who's bringing the Death Note here. I almost didn't think that Light would let them.'_

More orders are given and updates received, and I hardly believe my eyes and ears as Mello orchestrates an entire plane-jacking. They supposedly land somewhere in the desert, with Mello commanding Mr. Yagami on where to go and what to do.

It all happens so quickly and fluidly, I hardly process anything until it's all over.

"Alright, Y-four-six-two, proceed." Mello commands at one point, and I try to look around him to get my own visual of everything happening. Without a headset to connect to their servers, I can't hear anything at all, and don't know what's going on.

A few minutes later, one of the goons grips his chest, sputtering, before he falls to the ground.

Two others rush to him, but the one guy that sits on the couches with Mello stays put. "Look, that's what you get when you steal from me and sell goods behind my back." He says, glaring at the body. "He was a worthless idiot. This is the first time he's been useful."

"Y-four-six-two, the target's dead." Another guy reports to someone on the other side.

I let out a sigh of frustration at only hearing one side of the commotion.

"Mello, the exchange has been completed." One of the goons reports, and I sigh again, this time in relief.

' _That's it, then.'_ Sayu was exchanged for the Death Note and got to go home with her father, while the notebook was loaded onto a rocket, and a dummy helicopter was launched to misdirect the attention of anyone watching.

' _Clever, Mello-san. Very clever.'_

"Boss, I'm sure you were watching. I did everything you asked me to, just like we planned." A voice distorted by helicopter back noise comes through the speakers.

"Yeah, I saw that. Good job." The voice of the man that had stayed on the couches replies.

"Then this is gonna wipe out all the past screw-ups of mine, right?"

"Oh yeah. Wipe out for sure. Do it!" He shouts, and someone begins to type furiously, before I can hear static coming in.

A few hours later, the rocket arrives with the notebook along with it. Mello sends out one of the goons to retrieve it, just in case. They bring it in, and place it on the table, before Mello goes over to pick it up reverently.

"Death Note, huh? Pretty uncreative for a notebook of death." He comments, before flipping it open and reading the rules aloud.

I smile as he reads the last two on the opposite cover. _'So Light did send the modified one. Good, there'd be a problem if they didn't get the one with all the rules.'_

"Well then," Mello continues, smirking, "let's get down to business, shall we?"

I hear the scratching of a pen against paper, and I hoist myself up if only to see who was writing the names. Upon seeing the pen in Mello's hand, I sigh before sliding down to the floor again.

' _Great, that sociopath's got the Death Note. Now what?'_

" _Why're you asking me? Not like I know."_

' _I was talking to myself.'_

By the time Mello finishes writing names, he looks at his watch, and counts to forty. When he finishes, he laughs. He laughs like a madman, but only for a few moments. When he's gotten that out of his system, he asks, "So, forty seconds and they're dead?"

After a moment, I realize that he's addressing me. "From what we determined, yes. That's all it takes."

"The power of life and death is in my hands… and now, I just need to get the other one."

"Other one?" I try desperately to keep the panic from my voice, but likely didn't entirely succeed. "You mean the one Kira has?"

"What other one could there be?"

"And how do you expect to get it? Kira's a ruthless psychopath, he won't care if he has to kill his own family in order to keep going."

' _Again, total lie. Light didn't kill Sayu, which means he cares enough to not do so. Huh. I've gotten better at lying through my teeth over the last few years. Let's hope I can keep it up long enough to get out of here.'_

After some time, I fall asleep. Tonight, I have another dream. It's been years since the last one, but the world they all take place in remains the same.

 _Once again, I return to the bleak world of grays. Now aware of my proper form, I stride about with confidence. I see one Shinigami in particular walking in a specific direction, and I follow after him._

 _Walking through cages of bones, he eventually stops, only to ask in a nasally voice, "Uh, Armo Justin?"_

 _I skirt around him to see the brilliant golden Shinigami from long before, again sitting on his throne chair. "It's Armonia Justin." He snaps to the lower god of death._

"Armonia Justin Beyondormason." _Kiyohime's voice supplies in my own head, the gesture again familiar._ "I've only ever called him by his full name, and I think he likes me for it."

" _M'kay, um, I've got a little problem. I went to the King to report that I had lost my notebook. But after I described that to him, the old man said that Ryuk said it was his, and that he had dropped it and took it."_

 _Armonia laughs._

" _So, what do you think I should do to get it back?"_

" _Guess you have no choice but to find Ryuk and ask him yourself."_

" _Yeah, that's what I thought. So I guess I have to go to… the human world."_

" _Yep, that's right. Have fun."_

" _Well, that sucks."_

" _Oh come on, Sidoh, the human world isn't all that bad." I feel myself say, before realizing that Kiyohime had taken over, and was just letting me watch. She strides towards them, a smirk on her face._

" _Oh, Kiyohime. I hadn't expected to see you here so soon." Armonia says to her, and she gives him a shallow bow of respect._

" _When the brat's asleep, I'm allowed to come out and play. Besides, I don't think she'd care."_

" _Why are you here, Kiyohime?" The nasally Shinigami asks, and I link the name Sidoh to him quickly._

" _A simple warning." Kiyohime smiles innocently, before it takes a much, much darker tone. "My human's down there. I'm pretty sure she knows where your Death Note is. However, she doesn't take too kindly to stupidity, kind of like me." The smile drops, and she's entirely serious. "Work with her, and you'll get your notebook back, no problem. All you'll have to do is what she says. Do that, and you'll be back within a month or two."_

" _A-and what if I don't help her?" Sidoh stands up for himself, though his façade is broken by his stutter._

" _If you don't, she'll do everything in her power, and mine, to prevent you from getting it back. And since she takes after me, she won't hesitate to resort to violence." Kiyohime stalks over to him, and he cowers back. "You will do what she says, are we clear?"_

" _I-I…I…"_

" _I said, are… we… clear?!" She over enunciates each word to get her point across._

 _It works. Sidoh gulps. "Y-yes, ma'am!"_

 _Kiyohime backs off, once again her usual, pleasant self. "Good." She bows again to Armonia. "I'm glad to see you again, Armonia Justin Beyondormason. I hope to see you again in the near future."_

" _And I you." He replies, gesturing to her with an open palm._

 _Rather quickly, everything fades back into darkness, though not before I hear Kiyohime's voice give off one last warning to me._

" _Alright, now you got a subordinate of your own to boss around. Get him to do your dirty work. Since you've seen him in the Shinigami realm, all we have to do is have me take over your eyes, and you'll be able to see him without touching the notebook. Understood?"_

' _Yes, ma'am.'_

oOo

Sayu was just brought to the hotel most of the Task Force was staying at. By the time she'd gotten to the room her father, Mr. Yagami had, she began to mutter one central thought, over and over, repeatedly.

"Mirai-chan is still in there. She's still in there. They still have her. She's still trapped. They took me away from her. She's still in there."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Yagami's eyes widened. After getting her settled, he got out his phone, and called everyone else in the Task force. "Come quickly! Sayu says that Mirai-san was kidnapped as well!"

In only a few minutes, everyone had gathered, and they all hear Sayu's rambling.

"Mirai-chan is still in there, with them. She can't get out. She's still stuck. She won't get out. Please, help her, get her out!"

Tears begin to run down Sayu's face, and she slowly begins to rock back and forth, haunted by the trauma of it all.

"Tsukino-san was kidnapped?!" Aizawa exclaims in anger.

"That's what Sayu says." Mr. Yagami admits quietly, dejectedly.

"But how? And why?" Matsuda asks, not getting answer.

"It makes sense, though." Light contemplates, thinking out loud. "Mirai was with Sayu when she was kidnapped, but why would they want to keep her alive? Could they know that she was part of the Task Force, and now they're trying to get information out of her?"

"We don't know, Light." Mr. Yagami sighs, stressed and defeated. "We don't know."

oOo

I've been here for days. I lost track of them a while ago, and now I don't know how long I've been gone.

' _Have they noticed yet? Did Ryuzaki end up calling the police to inform them that I was kidnapped? Is everyone alright?'_

Without anyone to answer my questions, I drop my head to face the floor.

" _Ten-hut, Colonel!"_ Kiyohime's commanding tone rings through my head. _"Your subordinate is almost here, look sharp and be commanding!"_

At her commands, as she's never failed me before, I straighten up to look more presentable and dignified. That is, as dignified as one can look after being tied up for so long. I kind of understand how Misa felt after those fifty days of interrogation.

Only a few minutes later, I see a figure emerge into the room. I smile at the sight of the Shinigami as he looks around the room. His eyes stop on Kal Snyder, who is the current Death Note holder. He keeps looking around, until his gaze falls on me, and he freezes.

' _Hey, Kiyohime, just a question.'_

" _If it's stupid, I won't answer it."_

' _When you take over my body, do my name and lifespan vanish?'_

"… _Oh god damn it!"_

' _That a yes? I think that's a yes.'_

Sidoh floats over to me experimentally, and my eyes follow his every movement.

"Can you see me?" He asks in his nasally voice, and Kiyohime rolls my eyes.

"No," I mumble under my breath sarcastically, "I can't see you. That's why my eyes follow your every movement."

"Oh, okay." He floats away, and I stare after him in shock.

'… _He's a moron, isn't he?'_

" _Unfortunately. It's how Ryuk stole his Death Note from him. He'll have to do, though."_

' _Can you get him to listen to me?'_

" _Saying his name should work."_

"Sidoh." I say low enough to keep away from the notice of everyone, but loud enough for the idiotic Shinigami to notice.

He turns back to me, and flies over. "So you _can_ see me!"

"Yes, I can. It's nice to meet you. I'm Mirai, Kiyohime's Human counterpart."

"K-K-Kiyohime?!" He backs away fearfully, and I can't help but smirk.

"That's right, moron." I let her do some of the talking, and my voice seems to drop into hers. "Like I said, my human knows where your notebook is. Listen to her, and you'll get it back, no problem."

"W-what- what do you want me to d-do?"

"Quite simple, really." My voice returns to normal. "There are a few rules in that notebook over there that aren't real. You can't tell anyone at all that the rules are fake. Is that understood?"

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"Good. Now, second, you can't let the others know that I could see you before touching the notebook. Alright?"

"Yes, m-ma'am!"

"Excellent. Now, do whatever you think is best, but listen to whatever I say and do whatever I need you to. Remember, you can't tell anyone that those rules are made up."

"A-alright…"

He floats away from me for a moment, eyeing me warily all the while. Only after I relax and look away from him does he seem to relax enough to look away from me. Finally, I tune back into the conversation going on between the others in the room.

"Alright, the next step is for me to figure out just how much I can control people with this thing." Mello thinks aloud, drawing my attention to him.

"Aww, they'll have to be able to see me before I'll be able to talk to them! What a drag." Sidoh whines, looking at Mello. He turns to Snyder. "Looks like Snyder's the owner right now. Guess I'll have to make him touch the notebook first. Oh well." With one clawed hand, Sidoh grabs the Death Note out of Mello's grasp and into the air, and I try to stifle my laugh at his reaction. Sidoh turns to Snyder, and drops the notebook on his head. "Tag, you're it."

"Th-the notebook just flew." Mello stutters looking at the offending object in shock and awe. Again, the expression almost makes me laugh aloud.

"Hah, it's a notebook that kills people." Gordon laughs from his place on the other side of the couch, females under his arms. "Hell, nothing surprises me anymore."

' _Famous last words…'_

Immediately after that thought, Snyder screams like a little girl drawing the attention of everyone inside. He falls out of his chair, cowering. "Boss, who is this?!" Shaking, he points at Sidoh. "The guy in the freaky costume! Who the hell is he?! Who brought him here?!"

"I came here on my own. I'm actually a Shinigami." Sidoh responds readily, not flinching at anything.

"A Sh-Shinigami?!" He begins to laugh nervously and insanely.

"If you don't want everyone to think you're crazy, pass the notebook around so that they can see me too."

Snyder grabs for the notebook, and holds it out desperately. "He says you can see him if you touch the notebook! Please," he stands, "here, everyone touch it! I swear, I'm not crazy!"

"Fine, whatever." Gordon sighs. "C'mon guys, touch the notebook."

Everyone does so, and immediately starts screaming and yelling. Guns are pulled and bullets shot.

After they calm down, Sidoh speaks, completely unharmed. "Nice try. You humans can't kill a Shinigami."

They all gasp in horror. In the background from my little pipe on the ground, I raise an eyebrow at them.

"Geez, even the Task Force didn't scream that much when they met Rem. You guys are more pathetic than I thought." I mumble, though somehow, one of them hears me.

"If you saw this monster, you'd probably faint!" He defends himself.

"Try me."

He grabs the notebook and brings it over to me, before touching it to my arm. Absolutely nothing happens, but I look at Sidoh nonetheless.

"Huh. Rem was worse." I look around the room at everyone's surprised faces. "What?"

"You've seen these things before?!"

"Well, yeah. Not this Shinigami, mind you, but one other. I guess this notebook's had multiple Shinigami owners by now."

"Really?" Sidoh groans, and I look at him and nod. "Stupid Ryuk, stealing my notebook and getting it lost several times…"

"So, that's a real, live Shinigami." Gordon asks, likely looking to me for confirmation.

"That's correct." I respond.

"So now what do we do?"

"Now, we get answers." Mello answers, looking at Sidoh with a determined look on his face.

A few minutes later, Sidoh somehow got a hold of Mello's chocolate stash and was gorging himself on it.

"Oh, chocolate is so gooood…" He moans, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, answer our questions!" Gordon demands, drawing the attention of the moronic Shinigami.

"What do you want to know?"

"Those last two rules in the notebook," Mello cuts in, "specifically, the thirteen day rule. Are they true?"

Sidoh dares a glance at me, and I shoot him the nastiest, most frightening glare I can manage; with Kiyohime's help, of course.

"Oh yeah. Those are real. Only apply to humans for some reason, though." Sidoh responds without stuttering, and I soften my face to an innocent and serene smile.

After a few minutes of near silence, only Sidoh munching on chocolate is heard, Mello suddenly comes to a decision. "Sidoh, go keep watch outside." We all turn to him. His eyes are wide and wild, and I almost try to shrink away. "It'll be very convenient for us that you can't be seen by humans. Go outside and keep watch, got it?!"

Sidoh stares at him for a moment, a slight look of fear in his eyes.

I smile to myself. _'Does this mean that I'm scarier than Mello?'_

" _Hey, hey, hey, don't you be taking my credit! Sidoh's only scared of you because you're my human. He wouldn't care, otherwise."_

Many more days pass, and nothing changes for me. I sit, chained to the pipe, in full view of the others. Sidoh follows orders from both me and Mello, keeping watch, while not revealing any secrets of mine.

One night in particular, four mafia members, as I've come to know them, drop dead where they stood, their cries and sputters prominent for breaking the silence.

"Oh." I say, staring at their bodies in momentary shock. "Looks like Kira found out their names."

Almost immediately after I say that, several explosions are heard throughout the complex. I glance over to Mello, to try and read his facial language and understand what's going on, but his glare at being outsmarted only deepens.

After a few seconds of thinking, Mello jumps up, and runs over to me. He reaches behind me to the handcuffs, and unlocks one of them, before pulling me up from the ground and taking me as a hostage shield. My legs, the muscles slightly atrophied, only barely do what I command them to in order to keep from falling flat on my face.

Gripping my upper arm, Mello runs up a flight of stairs, glancing around, before he shouts out, "Roy! Skyer! The notebook's under Rod's body! Bring it to the surveillance room upstairs!"

Just as we leave the catwalk and get into the said surveillance room, another explosion is heard.

I unconsciously squeak, and Mello begins to twist my arm painfully. Before I can react to that, he threatens, "If you know what's good for you, you'll keep silent. Understood?" I only nod in response. He handcuffs me to him, before sitting down at the desk and beginning to type furiously. I stand next to him, unable to leave.

" _Why aren't you running?!"_ Kiyohime yells. _"This is your perfect chance! Kick him in the balls, break the handcuffs, and book it!"_

' _The moment I try that is the moment I could accidentally blow up the entire place, with everyone inside. I'm not taking that risk. Who knows who all could be in here?'_

I only have to wait for a few more minutes, before we hear someone carefully making their way through one of the halls leading to the surveillance room. A few seconds later, Mello pulls the trigger, detonating the two bombs he'd rigged to blow on his command, which trap us inside.

"Don't move." Mello commands, holding a gun towards the intruder with his free hand. "I've already blown up the two entrances to this place. This'll be your only warning. The next explosion will take out the entire building, as well as all your men inside, so you better do as I say." After a couple seconds, he orders, "Put down your gun, and take off your mask."

The man does so, and I stifle a gasp as Mr. Yagami's face is revealed.

Behind us, the computer screens light up, illuminating both all three of us.

"Yagami again, huh?" Mello snorts. "Maybe I should've killed you when I had the chance. History repeats itself, but I never dreamed in a million years that I'd be bargaining for the notebook with you again."

After a few moments, where Mr. Yagami and Mello have an intense staring contest and I glance between them, Mr. Yagami speaks. "Your real name… it's Mihael Keehl."

Mello gasps, and I pale. I would bet anything that the thoughts flying through our heads right now are along the same lines.

' _How the hell does he know Mello's real name?! Did he…?'_ My eyes slide up to his lifespan. _'Is it possible…? But how?! Why did he?! How could he? How could Yagami-san have possibly traded for the Shinigami eyes?!'_

"It's over, Mello." Mr. Yagami continues. "Let her go. It's time to turn yourself in. If you give up, I won't kill you. You have my word on that." Mr. Yagami opens the Death Note to a random page, and holds a pen above it threateningly. "You know how this works. I write your name, and you will die. Let go of both Mirai and the gun, and put your hands in the air!"

Again, they stare at each other for a few moments longer. Unsure of the situation anymore, I continue to glance between them silently.

"Yagami…" Mello starts, shifting around.

"Don't move!" Mr. Yagami interrupts him, quickly writing in the notebook. "I've already written down your first name, and it will only take me a second to write your surname!"

"I'm truly sorry. For what it's worth, I give you my word that I never wanted to kill you, either of you." Mello closes his eyes and looks down. "But tell me, Yagami, you've never killed someone before, have you?" He looks back up at Mr. Yagami, his eyes once again intense.

From the corner of my eye, I see someone on the floor roll to the side, and grab the machine gun resting there. From his position on his back, he shoots Mr. Yagami in the back, repeatedly.

"Yagami-san!" I cry out in worry, and try to run over to him, before being pulled back by Mello.

"Jose, the notebook!" He cries, ignoring me.

He drags me over to Mr. Yagami, who lies on the ground, clutching the Death Note for all it's worth. A mafia member sits on top of him, trying to pry open his arms and grab it. "Damn… this guy… he won't let go of the thing!" Quickly giving up, he stands, and kicks Mr. Yagami in his back. "Son of a-"

Mello grabs a couple gas masks, strapping one onto himself, before tossing the other one to me. Within me, a quick and quiet war rages.

' _We should put it on! He's gonna gas the place!'_

' _If we don't put it on Yagami-san, he could die!'_

' _He's going to die anyway! He was shot!'_

"Put it on, Mirai!" Mello snaps, making my decision for me.

I glance to Mr. Yagami, and with tears threatening my eyes, I put on the mask. _'I'm sorry, Yagami-san. I'm so, so sorry.'_

Almost immediately, another few people round the corner, guns in hand. Only taking a second, one of them opens fire on the mafia member standing over Mr. Yagami. They rush over to him, one of them crying, "Deputy director!" I recognize the voice as Matsuda's.

With his life reassured, the police members point their guns at us.

"It's all over, Mello!" One of them, Aizawa, yells.

"Not quite." He drags me in front of him, before pointing his own gun at my head. "I've still got a hostage. Let me go, and she gets to live. Force my hand, and miss Mirai Tsukino dies. The choice is yours."

Quickly, I come to my own decision. "No." I announce, drawing all attention to me. "The choice… is _mine!_ " Like any good child who watched too many crime shows and movies, I step on his foot forcefully, before kicking my heel into his crotch, an immediate KO.

" _Not for long, girl! Hurry! You got five seconds!"_ Kiyohime warns me, and I, quite simply, gather her strength into my hands, before ripping the few chain links between the handcuffs apart, freeing me from my captor. Actually being smart, I run over to and behind the other police officers, letting them shield me from Mello.

"Hmph." Mello slowly, gingerly, _painfully_ , gets up. "Clever. But that's not going to save you now."

He pulls out a detonator, and immediately presses the activation switch.

The resulting explosion destroys most of, if not the entire mafia base headquarters. Having been surrounded by large guys each wearing bullet resistant body armor, I was mostly protected from the resulting fires. After landing somewhere, the explosion having knocked me off of my feet, I wait for a few minutes to try and clear my ears of the ringing, before trying to get up, and realizing that someone was wrapped around me protectively.

"Are… are you… alright…?" I get out, before turning my head down and breaking into a coughing fit that leaves my throat raw.

"Yeah…" They respond, and I recognize the voice as Mogi's. "Are you?"

"I'll-" I break into another coughing fit from the sheer amount of dust in the air. "I'll live."

Mogi speaks into his walkie-talkie to try and get in touch with the others, and ensure their safety. Meanwhile, I sit off to the side, supposedly in shock.

' _Mello might've died in that.'_

" _He might not have."_ Kiyohime bounces back.

' _Even if he didn't, if I write down the name of a dead person, will there be any repercussions towards me?'_

" _Not that I'm aware of."_

' _When we get back, it'll be one of the first things I do.'_

" _After a shower, I hope. Those mafia guys hardly let you out of their sight to go to the bathroom, let alone shower for the last month."_

After a few more minutes of finding everyone in the rubble, we all gathered around Mr. Yagami, and quickly and unanimously decided to take him to a hospital.

Upon arriving, I was sent to my own room to be taken care of, though it didn't take very much persuasion to get the doctors and nurses to let me go to Mr. Yagami's room when the news arrived.

"Please Dad, come on, you can't die on me like this!" Light cries, kneeling by his father's side. Without hesitating, I walk over and kneel beside him.

' _Kiyohime, don't you dare think about coming out until after he can't see my name and lifespan, understood?'_

" _Yeah, yeah, I'm not an idiot."_

Slowly, Mr. Yagami cracks his eyes open, before gingerly turning his head to look at Light. "Light…" He mumbles weakly.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"I… thank goodness…"

Light gulps around what sounds like a lump in his throat. "You'll be fine, it's okay."

"Light… I still have them… I still have the Shinigami eyes…"

' _So he did trade for them, then.'_

Mr. Yagami continues, oblivious to the Shinigami in the room. "According to that Shinigami, Ryuk… I can't see the lifespan of someone who owns a notebook… but, I can see the numbers above your head… Light… you really aren't Kira." Tears come to his eyes, and begin to run down his face. "I'm so glad… my son…"

"Don't tell me you're still worried about that, chief." Matsuda cuts in. "Of course he's not Kira."

"Come on," Light continues, "you shouldn't talk so much, Dad." I glance over to him, and see the ever so slight shift in his eyes.

"I… I'm so sorry, but… in the end, I couldn't do it… I couldn't bring myself to kill him…"

Light brings out the Death Note from his jacket and pushes it towards his father. "Come on, Dad, write his name!" He cries, a panic lacing his tone. "You can't let him beat you like this! Write his name down! With your last bit of strength, do you want to die in vain?!"

' _Light, you're lucky the others are blind, because you're being extremely obvious right now.'_

I lay a hand on his shoulder, drawing Light's attention towards me. With a sad expression on my face, but a devious smile in my eyes, I shake my head, hoping he understands my overly cryptic meaning.

Mr. Yagami's body begins to go limp, and we both immediately turn our attention back towards him. "Dad, no!" Light cries, tears coming to his eyes.

Slowly, Mr. Yagami's eyes turn to me. "Mirai-san…"

"Yes?"

"Protect… my son…"

Tears begin to fill my eyes, but I nod, determinedly. "Yes, sir."

As the life fades from his eyes, Mr. Yagami says his son's name with his last bit of strength. "Light…"

The lines go dead, and once again, my tears begin to fall.

"I'm sorry for your loss." The doctor says, but everyone seems to ignore him.

"Dad, please, no…" Light cries, leaning closer, as if mere proximity could bring him back. "Wake up! Come on, damn it! Don't you die on me, you idiot!" Light's tears and sobs begin to obscure his words. "Dad!"

As the sobs really begin to come, I wrap one arm around Light, before forcibly pulling him towards me, and letting him cry on my shoulder. As if grateful for the open embrace I offer, he wraps both of his arms around me, as if he's scared to lose me, as well. Tightly, we hold each other, letting our strength come from one another. In this moment, I feel closer to Light than ever before.

Some time later, we leave the hospital room, and end up going to the rooftop. Light holds out the Death Note, before letting everyone else touch it in order to see Sidoh.

They all look at the third Shinigami they've seen in amazement, while Light, emotionlessly, states, "You're the Shinigami that came here to take back this notebook, aren't you?"

Sidoh glances over to me, before nodding. "Yes."

"The notebook might be helpful to the Kira investigation," Light thinks aloud, "but we really only need one of them. I'll give this one back to you."

Lights hands it off, and Sidoh spares one last glance towards me. I smile, nodding once, before Sidoh looks away, and takes off into the night sky.

Rather than looking after him like all the other remaining Task Force members, I look over at Light, who stares at the ground. After following his line of sight, only to find nothing of importance, I look up at his face, which is determined. Soon enough, he meets my gaze, and I smirk evilly, a gesture which he quickly returns.

I look off into the sky, gazing at the moon.

' _Once we get home… it'll be two down, one to go. Near is all that's left, at this point. Mello will be dead by the end of the week.'_

" _How will L feel about that, though? After all, those boys were his successors."_

' _He has the mindset of Kira at this point. I doubt he'll put up too much of a fight for Mello, but we just have to get Near some other way, then. How interesting…'_

 **And it's done! 27 pages, eleven thousand words, all in time for the new year! Happy holidays, everyone! Now let me sleep, it's three in the morning…**

 **Due to the** _ **overwhelming**_ **response to Genzai in the last chapter (God, even a few threats if I didn't keep him, christ, what are you people?), the dog will be kept! A scene shall be enacted! Things shall happen that I am excited for and you should be too!**

 **Happy New Year!**


	22. Justice

"Are you sure you don't want me to search your apartment?" Matsuda asks, having chivalrously offered to take me home once we landed in Japan. Out of context, that sounds extremely creepy and intrusive, but considering where I just came from… "We're still not sure if those mafia guys are going to try to kidnap you again. After all, Mello escaped-"

"Matsuda-san, shut it." I snap, rubbing my forehead. "You don't need to search my apartment. Genzai's been guarding it the entire time I was away, and I had one of my neighbors check up on him periodically. I'll be fine."

"Genzai?"

"My Doberman Pinscher. I got him almost three years ago, he's trained to be vicious. Worst comes to worst, I'll find a body in my apartment because some moron decided to break in."

We arrive at my door, and I manage to unlock it before waving Matsuda off. He leaves, and I open the door.

The moment I close it behind me and lock it, I'm bowled over by one hundred pounds of excited guard dog. Genzai lies on top of my chest, licking my face, while I try to push him off.

"Genzai, stop it!" I laugh, the stress and tension of the last four weeks finally melting off of my shoulders. By my laugh, however, he thinks he's been allowed to continue, and immediately goes back to covering my face in his saliva.

"Genzai, heel." I hear the command, and Genzai quickly backs off of me, before trotting over to Ryuzaki's side and sitting. We, Ryuzaki and I, stare at each other for a few moments, before he breaks the silence. "You're late."

"Am I?" I look at the wall clock. "It's only four in the afternoon."

"You should've been back four weeks ago."

"Your successor, Mello, thought I'd be a good trump card to catch Kira before Near, so he kept me around."

Ryuzaki stares at me in shock for only a second, before a sadder expression takes over. "So, Mello was the one to kidnap you?"

"Unfortunately. He was working with the mafia, too."

"Lovely." Ryuzaki walks over to me, and extends a hand to help me up. Once I'm on my feet, he turns around to walk away. "You look pretty beat up. Go take a shower."

"Gee, thanks." I walk over to my room, grab a change of clothes, and head for the bathroom.

As I pass Ryuzaki's room, he calls out, "Welcome home, Mirai."

"Good to be back, Ryuzaki."

After an hour long shower - because, come on, I haven't showered in a _literal month_ here - I grab one of the pages of Ryuk's Death Note, the page almost entirely covered in names, before sitting down at the kitchen island. I bring my pen down to only a millimeter above the page, before pausing as a thought occurs.

"Hey, Ryuzaki." I call out, and a few seconds later, he walks around the corner to see me.

"Yes?"

I pause for a moment to try and figure out exactly how to phrase this. "How… would you react to me killing Mello?"

He blinks at me for a few moments, before walking over and sitting next to me at the island. After he takes a few more seconds to compose himself, he responds. "It would be a lie if I said that it wouldn't bother me. I understand that what he did was unforgivable, but he was still my successor. He had promise, and he threw it away by becoming a criminal. I wouldn't object to you killing him, but I wouldn't be alright with it."

Thinking for a moment, I nod. "That's a fair answer, and I'd probably say the same in your position." I glance back to the paper in front of me. "There should be enough room for me to write specific qualifications, too…" As a plan forms, I smile.

"What are you planning now?"

"Something."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not."

"Do you even know?"

"It's still a concept, I can't read it to you now. Let me turn it into a picture, then that into a document, and then you'll know."

Only a couple days later, I show up at Light's doorstep like the slightly creepy stalker I am. Luckily, I came when the Task Force was there, working, so when Light opens the door, I push past him and immediately announce, "Have you heard?"

The task force jumps up from their seats, tense and ready to fight, before they realize that it's only me.

"Oh, hello, Mirai! What a pleasant surprise to see you here, please, feel free to come in." Light mutters sarcastically behind me from the doorway.

I glance back at him and stick my tongue out, before regaining my composure and continuing.

"Remember Demegawa? The guy from Sakura TV?" I ask, gaining a chorus of nods from each of the members. "Turns out, he has a Kira-centered show. For all we know, Kira might've contacted him and given him more information that he could be leaking right now."

"It's worth a shot." Aizawa decides, grabbing the remote, and turning on the TV to the station.

"I will proclaim this right here and now, to all the people of the earth, Kira is true justice!" Demegawa's voice rings from the speakers. A billion sparkles flash across the screen, and the words, 'Kira's Kingdom' flash across the screen all glittery. The shot changes to one of Demegawa sitting right in front of the camera. "Good evening, it is my honor to be appointed by Kira as his spokesman. This is not a hoax, it's the absolute truth. I realize there will be many people who might try to have me killed now, but I'm prepared to risk my life to further Kira's ambition."

"Kira's Kingdom, huh? What a terrible title." Aizawa grumbles, glaring at the screen.

"This is insanity." Ide, a new addition to the task force, agrees.

Demegawa continues his long-winded spiel. "Trying to capture Kira is an unforgivable crime! If you happen to know anyone who is trying to capture Kira, be they a police officer, a criminal, or a regular citizen, you have to bring them to justice!"

"If anyone should be killed by Kira, it's this guy." Aizawa continues his grousing.

"Switch it back to the press conference," Matsuda recommends, "the president's about to start."

While Aizawa quickly changes the channel, I turn on my phone, and open my text chat with Ryuzaki, under the fake name "Ryuu-san".

"PCO, POTUS spk" I send the confusing string of English shorthand to him, which roughly translates to, _'Press Conference, President of the US speaking.'_

Only a couple seconds later, he replies, "ICI" translating to, _'I see it.'_

I turn my attention away from my phone and back to the screen.

"I wonder what it's about." Matsuda wonders openly. "All they said was it was going to be some sort of announcement."

"You don't do anything but watch TV, do you?" Ryuk goads, catching the apple Matsuda had thrown into the air. Indignantly, Matsuda steals back the fruit from the Shinigami's hands.

"Good morning." The president begins in English. "I'm going to try to keep this brief." He silent for a few moments, leading everyone to lean forward in anticipation. "The United States… will no longer oppose Kira." Chaos breaks out in the press conference room, and the president's two bodyguards quickly go to either side of him.

I text Ryuzaki, "DUST?!" _'Did you see that?!'_

"Yea" _'Obviously.'_

Light slams his hands on the desk in front of him in anger. "Those… those cowards!"

I try not to smile as I realize what this means. _'Wonderful. Now that we have the great America neutral, the rest of the world will soon follow.'_

"Wh… what the hell is he talking about?!" Aizawa exclaims in shock.

Ide continues, "Have they been threatened, or something?"

"Justice? No, no, I never said that." The president continues in response to the reporter's exclamations. "But because of Kira, war and conflict has ceased to exist. Criminal organizations are in a state of ruin, not only in the United States, but in all free nations. Anyone who defies Kira head-on will be killed, that is a fact. We are not acknowledging Kira as a symbol of justice, we are simply saying that, as a country, we will not take any actions against him."

That only fuels the fires in the reporters, making them shout louder. Soon enough, the president is led away and off-screen by his bodyguards.

"I can't believe it." Aizawa admits in shock. "This is America, how can their government do something so cowardly like this?!"

"Uh, do you guys mind if I ask a serious question?" Matsuda asks, timidly, drawing my attention to him.

" _It might break the fabric of space-time, but sure! Go ahead!"_ Kiyohime laughs at her own joke.

"Oh boy, what is it this time?" Ide unknowingly agrees.

"Are you telling us you're not always serious?" Aizawa snipes, but Matsuda ignores the jibes.

"Do you guys ever think that maybe, Kira isn't completely evil?"

My eyes widen, while the other Task Force members object strongly.

"What?!" I hear Aizawa yell.

"What kind of question is that, Matsuda?!" Ide shouts as well.

"I've been thinking about it, a-and part of me just doesn't believe that he is." Matsuda looks away from the others, averting his eyes from their disapproving faces.

"So now you think Kira is justice, too?!" Aizawa continues to yell in his outrage.

"I don't really know. But I think Kira's trying to fight evil and change the world in his own way. And, well, the world's become a good place for people who live honest lives, so, maybe…" Matsuda tries to defend his declaration, but Aizawa cuts him off.

"You're wrong, Matsuda! People are only afraid of losing their own lives! How can you think that's real peace?"

"I understand that! Believe me, I know that as well as you! It's just that I can also understand the other side. I can see why all those people call Kira a saviour. I'm not like you, when it comes down to it, I've always been a really weak person. But, I'm also a detective. I can't accept Kira! I know it's my duty to catch him, no, I _want_ to catch him, it's just that I can't completely hate him, either. I guess… I must be… crazy, or something, huh?"

I sigh, closing my eyes. _'So close. If only he didn't feel like he had to catch us, if only Yagami-san hadn't died, then maybe Matsuda-san might've been on our side by now. While not much, it would've been a start.'_

"No, you're not crazy, you're normal." Light speaks up, reassuring Matsuda.

His speaking up catches the attention of all of us in the room. "You too, Light?! What're you talking about?!" Aizawa exclaims, misinterpreting his words.

"I'm sure that, on some level, Kira probably knows that what he's doing is evil." From behind us, Ryuk laughs. "But he'll try to change the world, even as a martyr, even at the cost of his soul. That's his brand of justice. I bet that's what's going through Kira's mind." Light pauses for a few seconds. "Anyway, we shouldn't be arguing about it. Good or evil, it's not our call. All we have to think about is catching him. If Kira gets caught, that makes him evil. But, if he wins and rules the world, then he's justice."

Light soon turns back to look out the window, and we gradually return to what we were doing before. Having rushed over for little more than attempting to lead the Task Force astray with my suggestion about Demegawa's show, I gather my things and make to leave.

Just before I get to the door, Ide calls out to me, "Was that the only thing you had to offer, Tsukino-san?"

I try to think quickly. _'For all I know, Near might've contacted the Task Force. If I suddenly join again, he might get suspicious. At the same time, I do need to keep in a reasonable contact with them. Let's see…'_

I call back, "If you ever need another mind for deduction, feel free to contact me. That bastard Mello held me hostage for over a month _and_ killed Yagami-san. His goal is to catch Kira before Near. If there's any way I can help you guys get to Kira first, don't hesitate to tell me how."

With a suggestion satisfying to my own agenda in the air, I leave without so much as a good-bye. I could've stayed longer, but there was something I needed to do.

After all, it's been thirteen days since I last saw Mello write in the Death Note.

oOo

Having ambushed Hal Lidner, a CIA agent working with Near, in her flat, Mello led her at gunpoint towards the Special Provision for Kira's main base room. Having noticed them on the security cameras, Near decides to let them in, if only to speak to his old associate.

"Ah, Mello." Near speaks from inside his little toy circle as the two enter. "What a pleasant surprise."

Still pointing a gun at the only female member of the SPK, Mello responds gruffly. "It's a shame I can't say the same, Near."

The other two members of the SPK, not including Near himself, are both pointing their guns at Mello.

"What brings you here?" Near talks lightly, as if this weren't a standstill where both parties had guns pointed at each other.

"I'm about to die, Near. I wrote in the notebook, and I only got a few more hours to live until my thirteen days are up."

"Thirteen days?"

"Don't act stupid, it's pointless. The thirteen day rule in the notebook. A Shinigami, a god of death showed up, told me that the rule was real when I asked."

There's a collective intake of breath in the room. Even Near gives pause. "So, they're real, then." Mello nods. "I had considered the rule to be fake, but that doesn't answer my question."

"I still don't believe it. I'm just covering my bases in case it lied."

"Then what do you want?"

"The picture of me you took from the orphanage."

"And why do you care about that?"

"One of my guys got something called the Shinigami Eyes. Just by looking at somebody's picture, he could see their name above their head. If the rule's fake, I don't want Kira getting his hands on the only picture of me that I don't have."

"And thereby killing you just after you escaped death the first time…" Near thinks for a while, contemplating everything. "Fine. Everyone, put away your weapons."

"With all due respect, Near, Mello's the one who killed our comrades!" One of the two SPK members holding guns protests.

"I understand that. However, if we just give him the picture, we'll all be able to go on our separate ways. Besides, if we kill him, we won't know if the thirteen day rule is real or fake."

While the two SPK members put away their guns reluctantly, Mello's rage builds to a slow boil. "So, I'm just another one of your tests? Another experiment?!"

"Well, when you put it that way, I suppose so."

Growling in indignation, Mello pulls out his gun again, this time pointing it at the white-haired boy. "Shut up, Near!" His sudden movements cause the two SPK members to pull their guns again.

"And we're back at square one. Mello, I'll give you the picture, but I do hope for some information in exchange."

Still upset, Mello growls out, "I'm not just some puppet of yours, you got that? I won't tell you anything I don't want to."

"And I didn't expect you to. What I want to know isn't quite so focused on the case."

"Then what's your question?"

"Why'd you keep Miss Tsukino hostage for so long?"

Clearly not expecting the question, Mello pauses. "What?"

"Why didn't you let Mirai Tsukino go in exchange for the notebook like Sayu Yagami? How I see it, there was no reason to keep her."

"I…" Mello thinks for a moment, and puts away his gun. "When she visited the orphanage, she said she worked with L, then she proved it. If L thought she was good enough to work with him, I thought she'd be able to help me."

"I suppose that makes sense." Near pulls the picture of Mello out of his pocket, and tosses it to him. "Now we're even."

Mello nods silently, before turning and walking towards the door. Only three meters away from it, he stops mid-stride, and clutches his chest before he cries out in pain. Near whips around in shock, staring in horror as his childhood rival falls before him.

"Guess… it was… real…" He gasps out, falling to his knees. "Sorry… Near…" Mello falls to the ground, lifeless. The other SPK members rush over to him, checking his pulse, desperate to see if he was still alive.

Near only stares in horror for a few moments as the others call an ambulance, before closing his hands into fists.

"Even Mello… what else will Kira take from me…?" He grits his teeth in anger, as he swears an oath. "I'll catch Kira… and I'll avenge you both."

oOo

 _Mihael Keehl. Heart Attack. Goes to confront Near, dies of a heart attack before he leaves._

"That should suffice." I smirk, having finished writing down his name, only to follow with a sigh. "I only hope Ryuzaki will forgive me for it."

"Forgive you for what?" Ryuzaki walks around the corner into the dining room, startling me. Before I can say anything, he walks over, and looks over my shoulder at the Death Note page. He sighs. "So, you did it."

"I had to enforce the thirteen day rule." I look at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Ryuzaki."

"No, you did what you had to." His eyes go dark, and an emotion I can't read crosses his face.

"Ryuzaki…" I reach out to him, but he gently pushes away my hand, the message clear. With a reluctant sigh, I nod, before backing off to give him space.

The rule doesn't apply to Genzai, who seems to have gotten pretty close to Ryuzaki over the month I'd been gone. When Ryuzaki sits down on one of the chairs, the loyal canine jumps up to whine a bit before licking his face.

I smile at the cute scene, before walking back to my room. I end up lying on my bed for a few hours, contemplating everything. All I do is lie still and think.

"Be calm, be collected, be calculating. Be calm, be collected, be calculating." I mutter the words like a mantra, repeating them over and over again.

I open my eyes to stare at the ceiling blankly. _'We can't get arrogant. We need to stay humble, we have to stay alert, we can't ever let our guard down. We need a billion backup plans. Things have been too comfortable recently, and according to Murphy's Law, we'll be out of control soon enough. I can't let that happen, I need to be prepared.'_ My door is slowly nudged open, and I hear Genzai's collar jangle as he jumps up onto the bed next to me. Absent-mindedly, I pet him. _'It's insane how out of hand things have gotten, and how comfortable Light is with it. There are way too many people who know about the Death Note, Shinigami, and sensitive information about Kira. We need to narrow it down. Since Light obviously won't do anything, and Ryuzaki can't leave this apartment without causing panic, it's up to me. I want it to be only the three of us.'_

"But how am I supposed to do that?" I ask aloud, the only response I receive is Genzai turning his head towards me, and crawling on top of my stomach. After another few dozen minutes of thinking, I come to a general answer. "I need to talk to Light. We can't do this on our own." I sigh, reluctant about what I need to do. "I need to tell him about Ryuzaki."

Despite the necessity of the situation, I put it off. I completely and utterly procrastinate on arranging the meeting, and do anything else that I can. I take Genzai for long runs. I research exotic places to travel to. I watch a billion cat videos online.

Anything to keep me from thinking about it.

My procrastination came to an abrupt ending when I turned on the TV several days later.

"This is Demegawa live!" The self-proclaimed voice of Kira yells over helicopter white noise as they fly towards a skyscraper. "My comrades and I have finally pinpointed the location of the evil organization bent on trying to catch our beloved god, Kira! We now have the building completely surrounded!"

I stare at the screen, frozen in shock. "Evil organization…?"

Ryuzaki comes over quickly. "What's going on?"

"I'm pretty sure Demegawa's about to commit a terrorist attack."

"Under Kira's name, I suppose. On whom?"

"I'm not sure, but I can guess easily."

"Right now, our enemies are hiding inside the building!" Demegawa continues his rant. "But they won't be able to hide from us for long! Behold, the power of the people! The power of justice!"

"Care to share your ideas?" Ryuzaki humors me.

"Near would be my first guess. Following that train of thought, Light must have messed up and sent Demegawa and all of Kira's followers after them. Your thoughts?"

"It is the most probable. In that case, from what I know about Light-san by this point, he's gloating over this."

I rub my face with my hands firmly. "Oh god, you're right. He's only making things worse."

"So… what do we do?"

I freeze, before a plot forms in my mind, and a smile breaks out onto my face. "We become a distraction. If Light is beyond the point of us helping him, it'll be evident soon enough. Still, I don't think Near has enough evidence to fully suspect him yet." I jog to my room, and grab a few computers, before walking across the hall to Ryuzaki's room, and setting everything up.

"What's this?" He asks, leaning against the doorframe.

"Our distraction." My smile is almost insane. "Hack us into Near's mainframe, and set me up with a voice scrambler. I think it's time for us to show Near our side of the story."

Within my head, Kiyohime laughs loudly. _"A clever bit of misdirection, kid, I'll give you that, but I do wonder how this'll play out. How interesting…"_

 **Quote: "He got what he deserved! He ate too much chocolate, he would've had a heart attack eventually! *runs away fearfully*" - Editor-nee-chan, after Mello died.**

 **I'll be honest, I didn't expect to end it here. If I hadn't, this chapter wouldn't be out for another month and it would be insanely long. I'll give you guys a bit of a cliff hanger in exchange, though.**

 **And thus, the deviation has begun! That entire scene between Near and Mello had almost nothing from the anime or manga. I'm pretty proud of it, myself. But now, every Reader-chan and Reader-kun can kind of guess why I need to change the rest of the series.**

 **Near had faulty canon logic and reasoning, based on evidence he didn't have. I've taken that away, therefore setting him back some. Also, Mello died early. He won't be around to do the rest of the stuff he normally does.**

 **Because I'll ramble longer if I don't stop here, I bid you all good night!**


	23. Running

With almost everything set up and in place, I settle myself in front of a microphone and keyboard in Ryuzaki's room. He himself sits in front of at least three monitors and two extra laptops running certain scattershot and voice modification programs, ready to go.

On the TV we'd brought in here, we can hear Demegawa yelling commands to the mob of people outside a skyscraper in New York.

"Fellow Kira supporters! I urge you do not rush the building all at once! The traitors may attempt to blend in with the crowd to escape! I am Kira's loyal servant and spokesman! You must listen to me! Oh, I know! Pull them from the building and bring them in front of the cameras! They'll be a sacrifice to Kira!" Demegawa laughs insanely.

I raise an eyebrow again at the TV. "This guy's a moron."

"Compared to people like us, almost everyone is." Ryuzaki responds, continuing to type in the last few commands. "And… done. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, before ordering him, "Put me through."

He types in a few more commands, before turning back to me and nodding.

"Hello, Near. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

oOo

"Near, you've got no choice. You better evacuate." The Second L advises, a smirk behind his words.

Near calmly responds, twisting his hair around his right index finger. "And what makes you think that I don't have another option?"

"The fact that there aren't any underground entrances on any floorplan for your building."

"Hidden exits aren't always put onto a floorplan."

"It's rather uncommon though, isn't it?"

The SPK members watch the back and forth between Near and the Second L nervously, desperately trying to find a way to distract the angry mob outside in order to escape.

"Rather convenient timing though, isn't it?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Out of all the other anti-Kira groups, ours gets targeted as soon as I start to suspect you."

"I would like to know what evidence you base that on. After all, a suspicion that was long ago disproven can't send someone to their death."

Near gives a momentary pause, as if not expecting the answer. But before he can take control of the situation again, a static takes over the screens. He turns to the other SPK members, who begin to frantically rush around. "What's going on?" He asks, and a heavily distorted voice sounds throughout the room.

"Hello, Near. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." The stylized name of Kira takes over the screens, effectively rendering them all useless as the white background blocks out the angry mob outside.

Nears eyes widen in surprise, before he orders, "Trace this call!"

While the other SPK members quickly get to their stations to track it down, the Second L's voice cuts in. "Near, what's going on in there?"

"Oh, hello there. I didn't expect you two to still be in contact." Kira's distorted voice almost purrs, the smirk is so tangible. "Just in case you can't see who I am, I may as well introduce myself. I am Kira. It's a pleasure, L."

There's dead silence from the other side of the Task Force's call. Taking this opportunity, Kira continues. "It seems you're in a bit of a… tight spot, Near."

"How do you know who I am?" Near replies, trying to remain calm.

"I've been listening in on your call with this Second L for a few minutes now. He's already said your name. But that isn't what's important right now. I've contacted you for only one reason."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"To warn you." Kira pauses. "You want to catch me, correct?"

"You're a criminal. Why wouldn't I want to stop you?"

"True, I'm not a saint, my hands are tainted with the blood of so many criminals. I am the world's greatest serial killer to have ever existed."

"So you don't believe that you are in the right?"

"Oh no, I am in the right. And yes, if you were wondering, I am a god. Then again, there is no religion in the world where their gods are without blood on their hands."

"You're not a god. You're a psychopath with a god-complex."

"God: a superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes. I have the power over human life and death, as such, I am a god. I have sacrificed any hope for an honest and hopeful future in exchange for the peace of the world. I have bloodied my hands as the only one who must do this. I have sacrificed my very sanity for world peace. In cleansing the world of criminals, I bring a peace to last forever. Oh, and I am a psychopath by a dictionary's definition. You are simply not seeing the bigger picture, Near."

Turning off his microphone for a moment, Near turns to the other SPK members. "Have you traced it yet?"

"We can't track it down, Near! It's like it's being sent to us from a hundred different places at once!"

"What?" Near pales, before trying to retain his calm outer appearance, turning back on his microphone, and continuing the conversation with Kira. "What do you mean by that?"

"What is your goal in pursuing me?"

"To capture you and have you executed, to bring order back to the world."

"In killing me, you'll do the exact opposite." Near pauses, prompting Kira to continue. "Think back through history, whenever an authority figure vanishes, people think they no longer have anything to fear. The police? Please, they're nothing compared to Kira, to _me_ , and with the greatest threat to criminals gone, they'll go insane. By killing me, you'll have done nothing but give the underworld enough courage to return to their crimes tenfold. In other words, I'm holding the entire world hostage."

"You're a monster."

"You're a spoiled child who only wants to win the game. Face it Near, you've been cornered. When Kira stops killing, criminals will figure out that I am dead, and the world will be worse off than it was before I used my power. Did you honestly think that after killing me, the world would return to the way it was? No, the entire planet's come way too far to ever have a hope of going back. If you still think that having me executed is the best option, then by all means, continue to pursue me. Just know that killing me is equivalent to killing humanity's first, fastest, and greatest chance at peace, and sending it into a downward spiral to worldwide war and destruction."

A loud shattering sounds throughout the building, followed by a triumphant yell.

"Near, we have to get out of here!" One of the SPK members warns, looking anxiously towards the doorway.

"We'll use L's legacy and the anti-Kira protesters we hired. While the mob is distracted, we'll make our escape."

"There's a slight problem with that plan, Near," one of the other SPK members calls, "All of L's accounts are dry!"

"That's not possible." Near calls back, "Look again!"

"They're all empty! There is no mistake!"

"Damn it!" Near curses quietly, trying not to let the others know he'd lost his edge.

"Oh? What's that, your plan not gonna work?" Kira taunts, the smirk obvious in his tone. "Don't you have any other ideas?"

"Only thing he was good for, and he leaves me nothing." Near grumbles, somehow forgetting his mic was on. "Damn L, never doing anything right…"

"I-I'm sorry?" Kira stutters, clearly taken aback.

oOo

"I-I'm sorry?" I stutter, shocked at what Near just uttered. I glance over to Ryuzaki, who stares at the screen with just as much shock as me.

"You heard that, then." Near continues after sighing, irritation in his tone. "Like I just said, L was useless."

"Useless?" I continue, trying to regain any ground I'd just lost. "He came closer to catching me than you ever could."

"But he still failed. He played this game against you and lost. L was just a loser."

Slowly, Ryuzaki and I turn to one another, speechless. _'Near said those things to me years ago, but… he still believes them? And repeats them?!'_

I take a quick breath, before trying to throw Near off again. "If L was such a loser and you aren't, then why was he so much more feared than you? I never heard your name until today."

"Because I am his true successor. This Second L just stole his title." I raise my eyebrows in mild shock. _'Didn't expect him to reveal that little tidbit. And to Kira, no less.'_

"I'll keep that in mind. But what do you believe, that a carbon copy of L can surpass him? That isn't something that is simply done."

"It's always been my goal. When you've been compared to one being all your life and told to become them, it feeds a seed of resentment. So yes, I do want to surpass L. Step over him. Step _on_ him, if you so prefer."

"So you don't care at all that he's dead…?"

"Why would I? It only means that the bar he set stopped climbing. I didn't need him."

"So, you think that if you catch me, you'll have surpassed L."

"Exactly." A commotion breaks out on Near's side, followed by some shouting that I can't make out. "It seems we'll have to postpone our conversation, Kira. We'll talk again when we have you in custody."

"Yes, we'll speak just before you die and I rule the world. Goodbye, Near." I turn to Ryuzaki, and motion for him to cut the connection. He does so quickly, but numbly. For a few moments, we stare at each other. "Ryuzaki, I-"

"Excuse me, I need some time to think." He stands, and quickly walks out of his room. I stare after him for a moment, contemplating chasing after him, but decide against it for now. With a sigh, I turn to the equipment, and begin unplugging everything to put away.

oOo

Near was running.

The mob outside had broken in, and after searching most of the building, they reached the main control room where Near and the others had been. By that point, the SPK members had run, trying to get around the mob and outside.

Along their way, though, they met a few of the Kira-fanatics. Bearing weapons, the civilians rushed the group.

"I'll hold them off, keep going!" Anthony Rester shouts, drawing his gun and aiming it at the fanatics.

Near silently nodded, before he and the only other two SPK members continued to flee. The five Kira followers brandished their makeshift weapons before running at the lone guns man.

"He is against Kira!" One of them shouts. "He doesn't deserve to live!"

Anthony fires a few rounds, taking down three of the men, but the other two reach him before he has the chance to kill them.

"For Kira!" One of the two shouts, bringing his pipe down on Anthony's head and bashing it in.

Anthony Rester was dead.

But Near kept running.

There were two repeats of the previous scene. Near lost both Stephen Gevanni and Hal Lidner to their need to keep him alive in order to capture Kira.

Now Stephen Gevanni was dead, his jugular cut.

Hal Lidner was dead as well, a gunshot to the head.

Finally, Near burst out of the building and into a back alleyway. Fearing for his life, he kept to the back roads.

His entire team was dead. He was alone. He was helpless.

But Near kept running.

oOo

Having quickly texted Light to arrange a quick meet up several hours ago after the whole SPK Kira raid, I grabbed my purse and other necessities for the next couple hours. Glancing over my shoulder at Ryuzaki, I call out, "I'm heading out for a bit to talk business with Light. When I get back, I'm not letting you stay silent over this." He doesn't respond verbally, and only nods his head once. With a slightly irritated sigh, I head out.

We had arranged to meet in a nearby park, but Light had never specified where exactly to meet up. As such, I spent a good twenty minutes wandering around, looking for him. By the time I'd found him on a decorative bridge in a tucked away corner of the park, the sun had long ago set, leaving the park to be lit by the lamps placed sporadically throughout. The lighting, stars, and setting gave off a very romantic atmosphere, making Kiyohime scoff.

" _Try hard. I'll bet he knows you're pissed and was trying to set the mood to get some action."_

While I roll my eyes, I agree with her. Light was trying too hard to set a mood here. All this picture needs is some candles and a picnic basket with red wine, cheese, and bread for it to be a picture.

Without a word, I walk up beside him, and stare off over the railing. Light glances towards me, before doing the same. "That was you today, wasn't it?" He asks, eyes not on me.

"Obviously."

"Why?"

"I knew there was a possibility that you might've let your true emotions slip whilst talking to Near. I was attempting to redirect Near's attention and stall for time while the mob broke in and hopefully killed them all."

"You don't trust me anymore."

"We've barely talked true business at all these past five years. The most we've accomplished is occasional small talk and rare conversations on various topics."

"Do you want Misa to know you're a part of Kira?"

"I just don't see a point in keeping her around. She's useless, and a liability. So no, I don't want her to know about me. All the more reason to get rid of her."

"She's the only one who has the eyes, and we'll need them to kill Mello and Near."

"I have the eyes, and Mello is dead! There's no point in keeping her around!" Light's head snaps towards me, and a look of fearful fury crosses his face as he grabs me by my shoulders.

"You made the deal?!" His voice rises in volume, and I realize my mistake. "Mirai, how could you?!"

"I was being held hostage for a month! Excuse me for wanting revenge on a criminal who wronged me!"

"Your lifespan was halved!"

"That doesn't matter!" I lie to try and backtrack, to regain ground I'd just lost. "Mello is dead. That's what's more important here."

"Your life is more important than his death!"

"There's nothing we can do about it now, so fighting each other over this won't solve anything!" With nothing else I want to reveal powering my argument on that topic, I switch to the offensive. "Then again, what about you? Earlier today, with the way you were talking, anyone who wasn't blind could see that you were smug over Near's HQ being broken into."

"What?" He seems taken aback by my sudden topic change.

"You were practically screaming at Near that you're Kira. What were you thinking, letting your emotions slip like that? If I hadn't come in at that point, he'd have probably turned the rest of the Task Force against you."

"I'm not as incompetent as you think, _Tsukino-san._ " He bites out the formal honorific like an insult. And it works, making me take a step back in shock. "I've done just fine as Kira on my own. I bet I didn't even need your help in the first place."

" _Okay dude, now_ that _was low."_ Kiyohime states, both insulted and impressed.

Not wanting to hear any more, and with tears in my eyes, I take a few steps back. "Very well, Yagami-kun." I say, my voice trembling. Light's eyes widen as he realizes the effect his words had. "If you no longer require me, I'll be leaving now." I bow to a very respectful, formal, and distant thirty degrees. "Goodnight." Without letting him say another word, I turn on a dime and sprint away.

On my way home, I try desperately to wipe the stray tears from my face and eyes, to make myself presentable. While only a couple blocks from my flat, I try taking several deep breaths to compose myself.

' _I need to talk to Ryuzaki. I should focus on him. Focusing on someone else's problems will distract me from my own.'_ With that decided, I walk home at a much more leisurely pace, arriving at my front door mostly calmed down.

I enter my flat, before closing the door, greeting Genzai, who nips affectionately at my heels, and calling out in a steady voice, "Ryuzaki, I'm back." I walk into the living room, where Ryuzaki is seated. Without a second thought, I dump my jacket across the couch arm, and sit across from him, before ordering, "Okay, now talk."

It takes him a minute, his hands gripping his knees more forcefully today than usual. "Lovely weather we're having."

"Ryuzaki."

He sighs. "I… I knew that my successors didn't have a choice in following in my footsteps. They were orphans. They were bright. And I was likely going to die at some point or another, so the world would require a replacement. I knew that they would resent having little to no choice in the matter, but… I had at least thought that they'd respect me."

Genzai's head shoots up, and he quickly jumps down from his spot next to me on the couch and trots towards the door. Our eyes follow him, before meeting. I pull out my phone, and slowly get up. I text Ryuzaki, "sm1 list" translating to, _'Someone's listening'_.

He texts back, "Check out?" _'You want the honours?_

"I'll, kp tlkn" _'I'll get them, you stay here. Keep talking.'_

"I had honestly thought that. It seems I was wrong." Ryuzaki keeps talking, and I stalk my way silently over to the front door. Once I reach it, I move Genzai back with my foot, slowly turn the knob, and throw open the door.

Genzai attacks the eavesdropper, pinning them down with his natural strength.

"Genzai, heel." I order, and the hundred pound Dobermann growls once more at the person on the ground, before slowly getting off of them. The moment Genzai is out of the way, I lash out to grab the person's arm, and forcibly drag them inside before locking the door behind us. I only manage to glance at their face once I throw them against a wall.

"L-Light?!" I exclaim aloud, taken aback for a few moments, giving him enough time to get out of my grasp, though he had placed me between him and the door, blocking his one and only escape route. "Why are you here?"

"I-I…" Light stutters in confusion, before trailing off.

"Light, you say?" Ryuzaki's voice floats over to us from the living room, and he walks into full view of us both. "I was wondering when I'd see you again."

Understandably, Light pales like he'd seen a ghost. "But- that's not possible. You're dead."

"Wait, he didn't know I was alive?" Ryuzaki turns to me, and I shrug.

"Never got around to telling him."

"That seems like too large a topic to avoid. So what now? Tie him up?"

"What?!" Light exclaims, losing his composure by the second.

"Shut up Light, the grownups are talking." I scold, before turning back to Ryuzaki. "It'd be a good idea."

Five minutes later, having been no match for two people equal in size and strength to him and a fully grown Dobermann, Light sits on one of the couches, tied with various ropes we had around the house. It was enough to make him snap.

"What the fucking hell is going on?!"

"Language!" I chastise, smacking him upside the head gently. "All will be explained in due time. Or, well, it _was,_ I planned to tell you that Ryuzaki survived his death five years ago once Near had been dealt with, but nooooo, you had to play super spy and listen in on our conversation through my door."

"But he was dead!"

"Yeah, you have _no_ idea how hard it is to convince people to try and resuscitate someone who has already been declared dead. Then keep it off the record. Then smuggle out their unconscious body."

" _Sure, this excuse always sounded shady."_ Kiyohime scoffs.

"But…" Light stumbles for words. "Why?"

"Why? Why would I save him, you mean?" Light nods, and Ryuzaki almost looks offended. "Because Ryuzaki is my friend, he's smart and cunning, and an integral part of Kira." Light looks ready to have a heart attack himself. "Has it been so long that you forgot? Ryuzaki's been a part of Kira for years now. It was only a few months in that he joined us, don't you remember?" I send Light a sweet, calming, and utterly threatening smile, praying that he played along.

Luckily for me and my plans, he catches on. A look of realization slowly dawns on his face, and he leans his head down, unable to hold it in his hands due to them behind tied behind his back. "I can't believe I forgot that. L, our greatest threat, became a part of Kira. How could I have forgotten something that monumental?"

"Glad I refreshed your memory." I smirk, before standing, and walking towards the kitchen. "Since I'm feeling more civilized now, I'll make us some tea."

Twenty minutes later, I walk back into the living room to see Light and Ryuzaki talking like old friends. For a moment, the scene was startling. Two of the world's worst enemies were actually on the same side now. Because of me. With a self-satisfied smirk, I set the tray down on the table and distribute the tea and cakes.

Light, still bound, glances at the dessert in front of him, before glancing up at me, unimpressed. With an unashamed grin, I get up and quickly untie him, before settling back down next to Ryuzaki.

"Now, onto business." I announce, gaining the surprised expressions of both of the males.

"Business?" Ryuzaki cocks his head slightly in confusion, a strawberry speared on his fork.

"Kira." I smile. "Well, we're all together again; free to speak as we so wish. I don't see why we shouldn't. There are some matters I'd like to discuss with both of you, and quite frankly, I didn't feel like doing it twice. Three of the world's greatest minds working together as one? I doubt anything would be able to stop us."

"Then what do you want to discuss?"

"How we work, who we kill, and what our next few steps will be. We need to be smart, we need to be humble, and we need to be smarter than the enemy."

"Then what do you propose?" Light asks.

"Truth be told, I think Kira's gotten too big. How many people know about the notebook or have used it? There's us, the Task Force, the SPK, Misa, and a few others that are already dead."

"And we return to this." Light rubs his face in irritation. "You want us to get rid of Misa."

"Not kill, if that's what you're thinking I mean." I explain, trying to defend myself. "She hasn't committed any crimes. We just need to take away her Death Note, and we'll take away her memories."

"Memories?" Ryuzaki glances towards me, a very mild concern in his eyes.

"They'd return the moment she touched any Death Note, so it isn't that inhumane."

"And why do you think we should do that?" Light asks, a challenge written on his face.

"The larger Kira is, the more people that know how to use the Death Note, the less secure we are. Besides, Misa knows that you, Light, are Kira. And she isn't exactly that bright. She's a liability, and could get us all killed."

"You want me to get her to send her notebook to you after having given it up?"

"Not quite. Have it sent to criminals around the world and handed off several times, before being sent back to me."

"Don't we still require Misa, though?" Ryuzaki pipes up. "She is the only one who has the eyes."

"False." Light glares at me, and I look away from them both.

"I… traded for the eyes a few weeks ago." I tense, ready for Ryuzaki's verbal scolding.

"Mirai!" There it is. "I could understand if it was for nothing, but half your life? Why?"

"To… to see Mello's real name. I… I wanted him to be brought to justice." I sigh, before turning back to meet their disappointed gazes. "It only means that Misa is completely useless to us from this point on. There is no point in keeping her around."

"Then what do you propose I do with her after I've taken away her Death Note?" Light asks.

"Dump her. Pretty obvious that you don't like her that much, the way you hardly respond to her obvious advances."

"There will be repercussions. She's the jealous type."

"So I noticed. Then don't make moves on anyone else for a while, at least until she's moved on."

Our conversation carried on like that for several hours, before Light glanced at the clock and realized how late we'd been planning. We said our goodbyes and Ryuzaki went back to his room, before Light pulled me out into the hallway for a quick, private conversation.

"Mirai, I… I can't believe you did this." He keeps his face out of my view.

"Did what?" Genuinely confused, I ask.

"You… brought our greatest enemy back from the dead, and stuck him on our side. How?"

"A clever trick I learned with the notebook, and a simple case of very minor… serious retrograde amnesia. Ryuzaki didn't remember anything of the Kira investigation. Naturally, I used this to our advantage."

He laughs under his breath. "You're more cunning than I ever gave you credit for."

"What else am I good for?" I lean up against the wall. "So, why did you really come here?"

"I…" He looks away, sheepish. "I came to apologise. What I said in the park was highly uncalled for. And for that, I'm truly sorry."

I smile sweetly at him, no underlying threat this time. "Forgiven, Light." I kiss him quickly, before stepping back inside my flat. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mirai."

I close the door, and lean my head against it. _'Well, that went better than expected. Light didn't immediately try to kill Ryuzaki, and Ryuzaki didn't lose much of his faith in me. Two of the world's worst enemies, now working together… how interesting.'_

 **Wow, I just royally screwed Near over, didn't I? Let me read the report… I am a horrible person. That's what it says. A horrible person.**

 **This chapter would've been out sooner if I hadn't picked up on playing through Portal 2 and finding it infinitely longer than it was my first play-throughs. Honestly, I thought it was half the size. Also, I'm far past the point of no return in this story. The anime is useless to me from here on out. Well, let's recap, in case that didn't make sense.**

 **Mello is dead four episodes and/or two and a half months early. The SPK is dead, period. The Task Force went back to Japan two and a half months early. And, if I may point out the elephants in the room,** _ **L is still alive and is a part of Kira.**_ **Add on the fact that Mirai is in on it too, and is half Shinigami pre-death-by-old-age, and we are** _ **by far**_ **past the point of sticking to the episodes. So, I apologize if the dialogue quality stumbles some from here on out, but we'll see how this thing goes!**

… _ **I have no idea what I'm doing… this story is practically writing itself, I swear I'm just giggling madly as the words keep appearing…**_

 **Eh heh heh…**

 **EH HEH HEH!**

 **NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!**

… **Nyeh! :3**


	24. Planning

_Slowly, I slide my feet over the tightrope. With my arms outstretched in a crucified pose, I barely manage to keep my balance as I walk through the endless balancing act. Below and around me are thousands of people, watching in bated silence, wondering if I will succeed in my journey to the other side, or if I will fall to my death into the bottomless pit below._

 _I hold my breath as I slink across the rope. Daring a glance directly to my right, I see Light walking with more confidence than I, only to pick up speed. Quickly, he slips from the thin rope, and plummets to the void below us. From the safety of the stands, the crowd cheers for his defeat, before their eyes return to me. Deep below, I hear Light screaming in pain._

 _I glance to my immediate left, and see Ryuzaki inching along the rope slower than I, only to also lose his balance and fall into the depths below. The crowd again cheers for his failure, their joy now louder than before. When they return their eyes to me this time, a few cry for my fall as well, Ryuzaki's yells a background noise._

 _I manage to keep moving along the rope for several minutes longer. The crowd grows quiet as I nearly slip, before regaining my footing and continuing on. Only a few minutes more, and I slip again. This time, a fatal mistake. My feet slide from the rope, and I plunge into the darkness of the void below me. I scream, and the crowd roars in excitement._

 _As I fall through the darkness, hundreds upon thousands of faces surround me. I recognize all of them as criminals I had killed with the Death Note, and I hear them all moan in agony as their hands reach out to grasp any part of me they can reach._

" _Why did you kill us?"_

" _You're a monster!"_

" _You're no god, you're a demon!"_

 _The voices slowly morph into those of my parents', and the faces take their forms as well._

" _Why didn't you save us?"_

" _You're not saving the world, you're destroying it!"_

" _This isn't peace, this is fear!"_

 _I curl into myself and try to block out their voices, but another face and voice pierces the darkness._

" _Miyoko… onee-chan… please, help me!" I cry, reaching out towards my older sister._

 _She glares me in the eye, and sneers. "Why would I help you? Because of you, I'm dead. If you didn't exist, I would still be alive. Everyone you killed would still be alive. You're just a monster. I died to save you, and you decided to commit a mass genocide."_

" _I… I-" I can only stutter at the hateful words my always happy sister had just told me._

" _You should just die."_

I shoot up in my bed, drenched in a cold sweat.

" _Well, that was certainly horrifying."_ Kiyohime remarks, and I collapse onto my bed again. Genzai, disturbed from his slumber by my sudden movements, jumps down from my bed and leaves my room in search of another place to sleep.

"Only a dream." I mutter to myself, willing the words to be true. "It can't hurt me. It was only a dream."

" _Well, some people think that dreams have certain meanings, so feel free to analyze it until you fall asleep again. Who knows? It might be a decent use of your mind for once."_

Ignoring most of her words, I contemplate my dream. And by contemplate, I mean pour over every single detail that I can recall. Pulling out my laptop, I begin to research each of the elements present.

"Let's see… tightrope, in precarious situation, must weigh pros and cons, proceed carefully. Alright, I suppose that makes sense. Friends… uh…" I mumble aloud to myself as I scroll through the extremely thorough dream website. "Okay, that wasn't helpful. Moving on… failure… overwhelmed with anxiety to succeed. Falling, feeling helpless and a lack of control. The deceased? You miss them, coping with loss, et cetera. Not quite. Uh… any suggestions?"

" _Being scolded."_

"Scold… being inhibited and prevented from fully expressing self. And… this was a waste of time."

" _Know what I pull from that nightmare?"_

"What?"

" _L's too careful, Light isn't careful enough, and you keep doubting yourself. Stay on the straight and extremely narrow, and you won't have to confront the hundreds of thousands you've killed in the sake of justice. Don't split up with either L or Light, and Kira will live forever. Quit doubting yourself, kid, it makes the trust I put in you look like it was misplaced."_

"You… trust me?"

" _Hard to believe, isn't it? That someone of my intelligence would believe in you. Anyway, why're you talking aloud? Won't L hear you?"_

"Nah, it's only…" I flip myself over to stare at my clock, "three in the morning. It hasn't been that easy dealing with his insomnia, but we made enough progress to get him to sleep at least by this hour."

" _If that's true, then who's at the door?"_

"Wait, what?"

" _Shut up and listen."_ I go still, obeying her order, and hear it. The ever-so-quiet tell-tale sounds of someone opening the front door.

' _It might just be Ryuzaki, heh?'_ I try to reason, but the excuse sounds hollow to even myself. My logic is instantly shattered the moment I hear Genzai's growl reverberate around the flat, before outright barking and what sounds like jumping at and on someone.

I hear that said someone fall backwards, before I quickly make my decision to go and give the intruder a scare. I throw off my covers, and sneak into the kitchen to grab a large butcher knife, before bolting towards the living room, where the scuffle takes place. I throw on the lights, revealing a man all in black wrestling with my large Dobermann. The man throws Genzai off of him, and I gasp in horror as I see my beloved puppy collapse in a heap where he landed.

"Get the hell out of my house, you bastard!" I yell, anger quite evident in my voice, before running towards the man, knife in hand. I only take a few swings at him before he manages to get out of my reach. Backed into a corner, he glances between me, the front door, and the bedroom hallway, before his eyes once again return to the clearly angered girl wielding a knife. With only a glance, I know his name, and smile uncontrollably. "You chose the wrong house to rob, moron. Everyone knows to not anger Kira."

His eyes widen, and taking a change, he bolts for the front door. I manage to catch his side with the blade, resulting in a deep cut that blood flows steadily from, but he makes it out the door before I can do anything more.

After several deep breaths, I turn back to the hallway leading to my room, and see Ryuzaki leaning against the wall.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Since you called him a bastard."

"Ah." Thinking the conversation over, I walk towards the kitchen to clean the now bloody knife.

"Why'd you reveal yourself like that?"

"Strike fear into his soul before he dies. He'll be dead of a heart attack within another couple minutes, anyway."

I push past Ryuzaki to go to my room and retrieve a piece of the Death Note. As I pass him, he mutters, just barely loud enough for me to hear, "When did you become so hasty?"

I pause, mid-stride. "I…" A sigh follows my incomplete thought. "I don't know, but… it might get us all killed."

"Then slow down, we're in no rush."

Another sigh follows my first, this one more controlled. "I know. I'm sorry."

"No harm done."

Ryuzaki lets me go to write down the name, before following me into my room a few minutes later.

"You were awake before that man broke in, weren't you?" He observes, sitting on my bed. Knowing better than to lie to him, I nod. "I thought we agreed that I was the insomniac."

"Nightmare." I give the single word as way of explanation. At his silence and slight hand gesture to continue, I do so. "You, Light, and I. Walking on tightropes. We all fell, one after another, into a pit of the dead criminals we've killed. My family, specifically, came along to give me some very unnecessarily cruel critiques of our work."

"Do you regret what we've done?"

"No, this world is a better place for it. Crime rates have plummeted world-wide, and honest people get to live honest lives. We three are the only ones who are still liars, but we are the liars who are purging the world of evil."

Ryuzaki blinks at me for a moment, before looking down and smiling to himself. "Yes, you'll be fine." He stands, and goes to leave. "Goodnight, Mirai."

"Goodnight, Ryuzaki."

Fifteen hours later, the three members of Kira, including myself, congregate in my living room.

"So, what did you call us in for today?" Light asks the obvious.

Grabbing my tea from the coffee table in front of us, I settle down in my own seat. "We need to figure out what we're doing with multiple groups of people, and I wanted to check in on your side, Light. Any news?"

Light takes a sip of tea, before setting it down. "I managed to get Misa to send the notebook on that overly complicated trail you devised. Sending it to multiple criminals and having them hand it off to one another was clever, but did you need to arrange for it to happen a dozen times?"

"I needed to be sure that it would throw the SPK off the trail for certain. After all, Near hasn't contacted us since Demegawa infiltrated his headquarters, but we don't know if any of the SPK members died. For all we know, they're still alive and biding their time somewhere safe until we slip up again."

"That's a fair assumption." Ryuzaki comments. "We can never be too careful."

"Where's Misa now?" I turn back to Light.

"I helped her find a new place, but she's out of our lives now."

"How'd she take the news?"

Light raises an eyebrow at me. "What was to be expected. Crying, yelling, accusations, a declaration to kill whoever made me do such a thing…" At my slightly shocked expression, Light snorts. "Misa's a harmless idiot. She couldn't kill anyone, even if she wanted to, she wouldn't know how."

"I… see…" I shift my gaze to the table and stare at my cake like it was precious. "Well, moving on… Demegawa. What do we do about him?"

Light raises an eyebrow again. "What about him?"

Ryuzaki answers for me. "While we appreciate the fact that he was able to infiltrate the SPK's headquarters, he is getting a little out of hand. He's self serving, and using Kira's name to get what he wants."

"I doubt killing him would be a good idea." I think aloud. "He's no criminal. We could choose an actual spokesperson for Kira and put him out of his title."

Ryuzaki nods, following my thought process. "I agree, but we would have to be careful with who we went with."

"No one we can be linked to personally, though." Ryuzaki suggests.

"On the other hand, Near might be expecting us to do that." Light counters. "If we do choose someone we know, he might not suspect to check into their list of acquaintances."

"If we do that and stop Near, then the next people who come along might look where Near did not."

"That's true… Speaking of the next people, what about the Task Force? They're still pursuing us."

"They're blind without someone leading them." I remind them, before looking at Light. "Though I'd bet they won't let you back out of it like I did."

"That's true… I don't suppose there's anything we could do to disband the group by force?" Light asks, glancing between Ryuzaki and myself.

"Would it be possible to have the Japanese government force them to shut down?" Ryuzaki suggests, his head resting on his knees.

I shake my head. "If only it were that easy. We tried that a while back, bribing politicians to get them to close the investigation. It didn't quite work in Kira's favour. Another idea would be to threaten them and their loved ones, but while that's always an option, it's not quite favourable. If word got out, it may put Kira into a bad view. Any suggestions?"

The two boys both think silently for a few moments, before Light speaks up again. "If we could somehow make them distrust each other, they'd separate with ease. As to how we'd reach that conclusion, I'm willing to take ideas."

I think for a few moments before speaking up. "If I recall correctly, didn't Matsuda-san say that he could see how Kira might be good?"

"Did he?" Ryuzaki asks, and I nod.

"Maybe… if we manage to convince him entirely to our side, or even to direct him to specific places at specific times, we'd be able to make the Task Force think that he was working with us. They have a fallout, then we kill off someone else, making them assume that Matsuda-san was the cause, then they all kill each other for us. Simple as that."

"That's evil, Mirai," Light says from behind his hands, "but it may just work."

"It will certainly take some time, but if you help it along, Light, then it should be accomplished within a few months." I heave a sigh, and take another sip of tea. "We've covered Misa, Demegawa, and the Task Force. Is there anything else we need to decide?"

"If there is, I'm certain we could easily set up another meeting." Ryuzaki decides. We stand up, and Light goes home.

Only a week later, while looking in the obituaries, I see a familiar name.

"Hideki Ide, aged 40. Died in car crash. Nice choice, Light. So it's begun."

"What's begun?" Ryuzaki pops his head around the corner, toast in his hand.

"The plan to destroy the Task Force. Ide-san was killed in a car crash-" My explanation was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. I glance to Ryuzaki, and he quickly retreats to his room.

I make my way to the door of our flat, before opening it. Without a head immediately at eye height, my eyes slide down to reveal a certain someone.

"Hello, Tsukino-san," Near greets, "may I come in?"

Even Kiyohime freezes in shock, before bursting out in laughter. _"Well, we've won. Congratulations, kid, you delivered yourself into the hands of the enemy. How interesting!"_

 **I'm sorry this chapter was smelly garbage that was sitting around, being useless for several weeks. It should have been out way sooner, but I procrastinated. Why? Because we're at the end and I wanted to wrap up everything on-screen rather than during a timeskip!**

 **Yes, that's right everyone! Just next chapter, then epilogue, then that's it. Kira's Other Half will have concluded.**

 **Reason this took so long? I didn't want to write it. It feels like drudgery. It's necessary for the plot, but I hate it. It doesn't help that, while writing it, I was playing Sims 3 and got the idea** _ **for a bloody sequel!**_ **THIS STORY WILL NEVER LEAVE ME ALONE! There are other stories I want to write! Why, brain, why?! I know what I'm doing for the last two chapters and the** _ **goddamned sequel,**_ **but not the chapter I'm working on?! Really?!**

 **Anyways, the end is nigh. Next chapter should be up (SHOULD, I'M MAKING NO PROMISES ANYMORE) within the next few weeks.**

 **Also (last thing, I swear), I'm a Beta Reader. I'm willing to Beta if I have read your story before and I offer, but if you request me, I'm more likely to say no. Because making promises before you know what you're getting into is a bad idea. Writing is not my job, neither is editing. While I likely won't Beta for you, I might read over your work and give you some pointers. Just please don't hurt me.**

 **Anyway, THE END IS NIGH. GRAB YOUR TINFOIL HATS.**


	25. Omega

"Come on in." I open the door wider and step aside, and he moves in quickly. Closing the door behind him, I manage to keep my composure. "Have a seat in the living room. Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, thank you." He sits down in the spot I had recently vacated, pulling his knees up to his chest, just like L does.

I walk normally to the kitchen, and while the water is boiling, I take out my phone and text Ryuzaki, "near here, hide".

After turning off my phone, I take the tray of tea to our unexpected guest. I set it down on the coffee table, and sit across from Near. He takes his teacup, and holds it for a minute.

After a few awkward moments of silence, I ask, "Near, what the hell possessed you to come here, of all places, alone?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You had a decent set up, from what I've heard. Why leave it and come all the way to Tokyo without any backup?"

"What makes you think I don't have backup?" He sets down the teacup, and twirls a lock of his hair around his forefinger.

"There was no one in the hallway with you. The floorboards are really loud around all the corners to let someone know if others were there. There aren't any places in your clothes that can hide bugs, and nobody's broken in recently. Well, without getting caught by the Dobermann… so there aren't any bugs placed around my flat. Therefore, you're without backup."

"Perceptive. I can see why L liked you."

"I just need to know, Near, why did you come here?"

"This is quite possibly the only safe place for me in Japan. L determined that Kira was in the Kanto region, and you happen to live in the area."

Kiyohime bursts out laughing again. _"He- he thinks this is_ SAFE?! _He's just signed his effing DEATH WARRANT!"_

I raise an eyebrow at him. "What makes you think this place is safe?"

"Well, for one, you used to work with the Task Force, so I'll be able to get close to them, and Kira isn't likely to suspect that a former member who dropped out is aiding me. Besides, you didn't kill me when we first met, and I'm still alive even now, so the chance of you being Kira is currently zero percent."

' _And that idea will get you killed.'_ "So now you want my help to catch Kira?"

"If you are willing to help me, yes."

"What do you need me to do-" The doorbell rings, interrupting me. "Please, excuse me." I stand, and while walking to the door, I grumble to myself. "Wasn't expecting anyone today, now there's a party at my place." I open the door, and see Light. "Ah, Light-kun. What brings you here?" I give him a strained and fake smile, trying to tell him that something was wrong.

"There was…" as he talks, he notices my strained expression, and changes his words, "something I wanted to talk to you about. May I come in?"

"Yes, please do." I step back, and while he takes off his shoes, I continue in a whisper, "Watch what you say. It's Near."

Light completely freezes, before turning his head to me slowly. "You're… certain?"

I nod, before gesturing towards the living room. "Come on in," I say in a normal voice, "I made tea." I lead him over to said living room, and Light pauses in the doorway. "Light, this is," I glance to Near before introducing him, as if asking for permission to call him by name. Near shakes his head slightly, so I make a name up on the spot, "Nathan Pond. He's a friend of mine. Nathan-san, this is Light Yagami, we used to work together."

" _Nathan Pond, huh?"_ Kiyohime laughs. _"Close enough to freak him out, though far away and general enough to be a coincidence. Clever girl!"_

"Light Yagami. Son of the late Soichiro Yagami, and current leader of the Japanese Taskforce against Kira." Near states, his poker face on. "I've heard a lot about you. Tell me, what do you think of Kira?"

I blink twice as Light sits down across from Near. _'Well, that was straight to the point.'_ I pour Light a cup of tea, before sitting next to him.

"Kira?" Light responds naturally, falling back into his old acting habits. "He's proud, for one. Clever. Calculating. Has a god complex, and power to match. What he's doing isn't normal, and needs to be stopped."

Near nods. "I see. And to what ends would you go to catch Kira?"

"Any ends necessary." Light contemplates something for a moment, before asking, "You sound quite interested in the Kira investigation, Pond-san. Is it personal?"

"Yes, it is."

"And why is that?"

"Five and a half years ago, Kira killed one of my friends. She'd been falsely accused of murder, so while she was in police custody, Kira killed her without even looking at the evidence. The real murderer was caught a week later. Kira is a self-righteous fool who believes himself to be perfect."

I stare thoughtfully at Near. _'Five and a half years ago? That would have been around the time that we were using Yotsuba. Great, now this vendetta is personal, and I can't blame him. Higuchi was an idiot.'_

Only a couple moments later, there's another knock on the door. I stand, "Excuse me." On my way over to the door, I mutter, "Who's it gonna be now? Mello?"

I open the door, and am immediately pushed aside by the emotional wreck that runs into my flat. "Light, how could you?!" An irritating voice screeches as she runs inside, directly at Light. Misa, her appearance a complete and utter mess, throws herself against him just after he stands up. "We were going to get married! We were in love! And then you dump me for this-this _harpy!"_ Misa was pointing at me, now.

"Excuse me?" I reply in indignation and disbelief, but Misa ignores me.

"I should have known that she would steal you from me!" I enter into the living room, and she turns on me. "You bitch!" She grabs me by the collar, and throws me against the wall, knocking a picture frame off the shelf. "We used to be friends, and then you stole my boyfriend, my fiancé! How dare you, you whore!" She slaps me across the face.

Light grabs her from behind, and pulls her off me. "I think you should leave, Misa." He states coldly, glaring daggers at her.

She turns into a blubbering mess. "B-but Light, w-we were gonna g-get mar-"

"I said, _get out."_ Light hisses the words menacingly, and she yelps, before running out, sobbing.

I sigh, rubbing my forehead. "I'm sorry about that, Nathan-san. I didn't think she'd show up… here…" Near was gone from the living room, and I start looking around. "Nathan-san?"

"Tsukino-san." Near's voice calls out from the doorway, and I turn to see him holding several pieces of notepaper, each covered in writing. "I'll see you at the trial, _Kira._ " He bolts out the door, and I pale.

Near stole the pieces of the Death Note.

He knew I was Kira.

" _And he's getting away, move you moron!"_

I bolt out the door after him, and look around the deserted hallway. I sprint towards the elevator and stairs, hoping that he'd gone this way to escape, rather than hide. I press the elevator button, but nothing happens. Glancing at the numbers, they were descending.

' _He's getting away.'_

I throw open the door to the emergency stairs, and leap down them, five at a time. I'm down the seven flights of stairs within minutes, and in the lobby, I see the front doors swinging closed, and a boy all in white sprinting because his life depended on it. I give chase, but as I make it out the door, Near had vanished into a crowd.

"No…" I murmur, slowing in defeat. I'd lost. We were done for. Near would go to the police, and we were going to be arrested.

They would try to kill us.

Ryuzaki would die again.

When I wouldn't, they'd experiment on me.

I'd be kept hidden from the world.

Light would be killed in front of everyone.

"No…" Tears fall from my eyes as I suffer a mental breakdown. "That's it. We lost."

" _For fuck's sake, you moron! Look up!"_ Kiyohime screams at me, prompting me to look at the sky.

A glorious, beautiful, black notebook was falling towards me, and landed at my feet. The cover was decorated quite simply with four white katakana. デスノト

"Kiyohime… is this yours?"

" _Yes, now write down his fucking name!"_

Without asking why, or what the catch would be, I lunged to grab it from the ground, and bolted inside. I practically flew up the flights of stairs, and burst into my flat again. Light and Ryuzaki were pacing and sitting nervously, respectively. Upon my slamming open the door, they both jumped to look at me. Without a word to either of them, I ran to grab a pen, and on the very first page of the Death Note, I scrawled, painfully slowly, Near's name.

"Nate Rivers," I say aloud, breathing heavily, "you thought you won. But you didn't account for my trump card."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Light and Ryuzaki staring at the notebook in front of me, as I stare at my watch while the seconds tick away. "Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten. Five, four, three, two, one, zero!"

oOo

Near was running again, but this time, he smiled.

He had all the proof he needed to convict Kira, who was Mirai Tsukino and Light Yagami, together. He'd done what L couldn't; he'd avenged Melody, his friend from Wammy's House who had been wrongly killed by Kira.

Near had beaten Kira, and he had done it by himself.

He dodged the other pedestrians in the crowd, and ran towards the nearest police station, which was only a fifteen minute sprint away from Mirai Tsukino's home.

Near cursed her. She had been Kira ll this time, but because Light had been so much more obvious than her, L had assumed that Kira was working alone. Near had made the same mistake, and it cost him the entire SPK.

But now, he had her. Near had them both. Justice was within his grasp. The station was within his sight. A smile spread across his face, before his heart convulsed. Near froze, a terrified expression on his face, as his heart ceased to beat. He fell to his knees and grasped for the papers he's taken from Mirai's flat, but his fingers failed him.

He fell onto the ground, his arms splayed out. People shouted, an ambulance was called, and lights were flashing.

But Near didn't care anymore.

He hadn't won.

He'd failed.

oOo

I smiled, knowing what had been done. In relief, I began to laugh. My laugh escalated until I sounded insane, and I quickly composed myself for appearances' sake. Turning to the boys, both Light and Ryuzaki looked at me, frozen in either fear or worry.

"Well?" Light broke the silence. "Did you do it? Is Near dead?"

"Yeah." I nod, smiling insanely. "He's dead."

"Those papers in his hands…"

"The pieces of the Death Note I've been saving. They were full, anyway. No one can use them."

Ryuzaki pipes in. "Is that Misa's Death Note?"

"No." Light responds, "The lettering on the front is different. Misa's was like a scrawl, this is Katakana."

"Then whose Death Note is it?"

"It's mine." Kiyohime's voice says aloud, and both Ryuzaki and Light look to me.

"Where'd you get it, though?" Light asks, "And when?"

"I picked it up outside, on the steps, just after I chased Near out of the lobby." I respond, before reaching up to my face to brush a single lock of hair out of my eyes, but the hand I raised wasn't my own. I froze, staring at the claw that moved on my command.

"Mirai?" Light asks cautiously. "Are you alright? You got really pale suddenly-"

I jumped up, grabbed the notebook, and ran to my room. I threw the notebook on top of my desk, and stared at the floor-length mirror. Red lights surrounded by black met my eyes, and the skin on the girl in the mirror was deathly gray. Though with my general appearance, the colours were all distorted horribly, with added features. Her hair looked just like mine, down with a single braid over her left shoulder, but all done in a brilliant blood red. Two ribbon like horns emerged from the mirror girl's head. White, bony spines ran down her arms and back, and folded bat wings added to the horrifying effect. Where I expected to see a red dragon-scale dress ending in tatters, the mirror-girl still wore my clothes.

When I moved, she moved. She mirrored everything I did perfectly. When I looked down at myself, I saw what was in the mirror, but I could hardly believe it.

"Kiyohime… is this you…?" I ask the air, hesitantly.

" _Took you long enough, brat."_

"But… why…?"

" _When I dropped my notebook, I entered the human world entirely. Since I am you, and when you pick up a notebook you are able to see the owner, you see me as you now. Within a few months, we'll have completely merged together. Soon, there won't be a Mirai, or a Kiyohime. Our minds will have melded together into a single being."_

"So this is it? The price I pay for peace is my mind?"

" _Are you not willing to pay it?"_

"I…"

" _If not, then too bad, sucker. We're melding into one being, whether you like it or not."_

"Mirai, are you alright?" Ryuzaki calls, prompting me to turn around to look at the doorway. Both he and Light stand there, looking at me, worriedly.

After a moment, I respond, "Can't you see it?"

"See what?" Light retorts. "I can't see anything different. Did something happen?"

" _They haven't touched the notebook. Keep it that way, and they'll never see you as the monster you are now."_

I smirk, grab the notebook, and throw it in a drawer, before proceeding to sit on my bed. "Sit down, kiddies, it's story time."

Ryuzaki looks worried. "Mirai, what've you been hiding from us?"

My smirk grows. "My Shinigami, Kiyohime. And a few mysterious powers she gave me."

oOo

Off in the distance, Ryuk laughs.

"Well, Kiyohime, welcome to the human world. Doesn't look like you'll be going anywhere anytime soon."

" _I hope my human's been entertaining."_

"Oh, she has. Her and Light both. I'm looking forward to seeing what they're going to do next. These plans of theirs are all so… interesting."

 **And that's it! It's been a journey, huh? Almost a year, over 120k word count, and only the epilogue to go! After that, though? Not sure. I could do that sequel I mentioned, but I'm not sure how many people would be interested. There are a few bonus things I want to hand out, like a long questionnaire for the characters. Any takers? If so, I need questions.**

 **So, in the comments, tell me what you want to see! You want a sequel? A Q &A with the characters? Random fun facts about the story? Tell me what you want to order!**

 **Until the epilogue, my friends! Allons-y!**


	26. Cessation

Walking through the park at sunset, holding hands and swinging a picnic basket, Light and I know we must look like a picturesque couple. Though, after all we've been through together these last six years since becoming Kira, I thoroughly doubt we'd be able to call ourselves that. All around us were trees, the park being naturally kept, with a large pond in the center of a clearing reflecting the setting sun's rays.

"It's over here." Light calls, pulling me out of my reverie. He gestures to a small cleared area on the other side of the pond, and I nod once in confirmation. We cross the small bridge to come to the clearing, and start setting up our stereotypical picnic; blanket, candles, baguette, wine, and all.

With that done, we lie down next to each other and eat in silence, looking at the serene park all around us. Completely content with the situation, I move closer to Light, snuggling into his side, before commenting, "We did this. All this peace is because of us."

Light puts his arm around my shoulders, hugging me close to him. "We've done amazing things as Kira. We've brought world peace faster than anyone could have imagined. Crime rates down by seventy percent, wars non-existent… our enemies out of the way. It's as perfect as it can be."

"You know, there's always the chance that there is someone else out there, hoping to take down Kira for whatever reason. We shouldn't fall into a lull of false security." I adjust my position, snuggling closer to him.

"That is a possibility." Light sighs, tugging me closer to him, and resting his chin on my head. "When that time comes, I want you to be beside me."

"Am I not already beside you?" I trace random designs on his chest, content to act like a being with lesser intelligence.

"Yeah, but I want you beside me in every sense on the word." He lets go of me and backs away, creating a foot of distance between us.

"Light?"

"Mirai, I…" He stands up, facing away from me, and I sit upright. He spins around quickly to face me, hands behind his back. He falls onto one knee in front of me, and holds out a small box. "Mirai, I love you, and I swear to keep you safe and happy in this new world we make. Will you marry me?"

A massive smile blossoms across my face as I start to blush heavily. Light opens the ring box, revealing a silver engagement ring with three princess cut diamonds set on top.

"Yes, Light!" I exclaim, grabbing him in a hug. "Of course I'll marry you!"

We embrace for a long while, and Light slips the ring onto my left ring finger once we move apart. I stare at it for a moment, as if in disbelief, before giggling, and kissing Light hard on the mouth.

"L-Light-kun…" I hear a pathetic voice cry tearfully from behind us. I pull away from my new Fiancé, and spin to face the source, who is none other than Misa. "I-I thought she was tricking you. I th-thought you still l-loved me…" She snivelled, her hands trembling.

We stare at her coldly for a minute, not yet having forgotten how she had almost let Near escape our grasp when he had hand delivered himself into our arms almost a year ago.

"He was mine…" She continues a moment later. "He was mine, my boyfriend, _my_ Fiancé! You were my friend, Mirai! How could you have taken my boyfriend from me?! What scum of the earth does that?!"

I sigh, irritated, rubbing my forehead with my right hand. "What scum of the earth, indeed, Misa. You seem to forget that Light and I knew each other long before you came along."

"B-but, if he was so interested in you, why would he date me? Why would he _propose?!"_

"Truth be told," Light speaks up, drawing our attention to him, "it was a ruse. Mirai seemed to be interested in someone else, and you were always throwing yourself at me. I'd have to be stupid not to come up with the plan to use you to get her attention."

I raise an eyebrow. "Oh? And who did you think I was focusing on? Ryuzaki?"

"The thought had occurred."

"But-but why _her_?!" Misa shrieks, drawing our attention back to her. "You could have had any woman you wanted, Light! You could have had me! So why…" she points an accusatory finger at me, "why would you chose someone like _her_?! She's so common! She's common and stupid and weird with her habits, why would you choose _her_ over _me_?!"

Light sighs, and lets his arms fall from their place around my upper torso. "It's true, she's not outstandingly pretty. She has some rather odd ways of dealing with her anger, and she can be extremely cautious when there's no need to be. She's condescending, and can be incredibly cryptic with her emotions, and acts her way through social interactions."

"I don't know whether to be insulted that he's naming my bad qualities, or touched that he actually bothered to notice…" I mutter under my breath, mere seconds before Light grabs me, and pulls me into his chest.

"However, she's brilliant. I never had to dumb myself down around her, and she's helped me reach my goals. She counter balances my bad qualities, and lets down her façade around me, and few others. So yes, Misa, I choose Mirai over you, because she never had to change herself so I would love her."

" _And… choose touched. How sentimental."_ Kiyohime makes another one of her few comments, them having decreased dramatically after we merged.

"That's very sweet, Light. Thank you." I stand on tip-toe to peck him on the cheek, before falling back down to my regular height. "Although, you aren't perfect, either. You're headstrong, and overconfident. You'll rush into a situation ill-prepared, and wonder why things didn't turn out the way you wanted. However…" I wrap my arms around his neck, "you balance out my bad qualities, and I balance out yours. You're more intelligent than anyone I've ever known, and you've always been there for me. I love you, Light, more than the world itself." This time, our kiss is long and passionate, our feelings intertwined in every movement.

"But… but-" Misa stammers, looking like this was the point where her heart would shatter into pieces.

We break away, and I turn to glare daggers at her. "Light was mine long before he was yours. You never had any real claim on him, he was just playing along so you wouldn't hurt anyone. Face it, Misa. He doesn't love you. It's over between you two. We don't fear you anymore. You can't do anything. Not anymore. Just go."

Misa tearfully looks between us, her eyes staying on Light's cold, unforgiving expression, as though searching for some contradiction.

But there was nothing for her to find.

Breaking out into loud sobs, she turns and runs. Light and I look after her for only a moment, before returning our gazes toward each other.

"Now," he cups my chin with one of his hands, "where were we?"

oOo

"Light, have you packed everything?" I ask, calling out to my husband, waddling about our house, praying that another wave of pain wasn't immediately imminent.

"I have our overnight bags ready, Mirai. They've been ready for weeks." He walks into the room, carrying two bags in his arms.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, Mirai. We have everything ready."

"But what if we forgot something? It'd be like me to forget something so crucial as- GAH!" I cry out in pain and double over as another wave of pure agony swept through me.

Light was by my side in an instant, holding my hand, supporting me as the painful contraction completely destroyed my brave face.

"Easy now, easy." He helped me sit down on the couch, before moving to check on the front window for the cab we'd called a half hour ago. "Just a few more minutes, Mirai. Hold in there." Light reassures, holding my hand.

"Gods sake, how the hell has humanity survived if this is the only way to continue the species?!" I yell out, trying desperately to distract myself from the pain.

"Because some women are willing to go through with it." Light responds, his face a mask of perfect calm. Not even a minute later, though it feels like an eternity, my contraction calms down, and I relax my entire body. Light looks towards the window, and stands. "The cab's here. You can walk, right?"

"Yeah," I heave myself up from the couch, waiting a moment for the world to balance itself, "hopefully."

We make our way out to the taxi, and make it to the nearest hospital within twenty minutes. We're admitted quickly, and most of my delivery passes smoothly. Ryuzaki even showed up a few hours in. Of course, I'm in agonising pain, I let out many, many expletives that I'd rather not mention, and made multiple remarks about killing Light in his sleep as retribution for this. All very standard stuff.

Seventeen hours into my labour, it's over. A few minutes later, I'm given a small bundle wrapped in a pink blanket.

"Congratulations," the nurses tell me, "it's a girl!"

I look at my new daughter's tiny face, and everything fades away. I see so much of myself in her face, and she opens her eyes to meet mine. She has Light's pale brown eyes, as opposed to my dark grey. I smile widely, and begin to cry, so glad for the tiny, innocent being in my arms.

Light and Ryuzaki are let in, and they both hold her.

"She's beautiful." Light breathes as he cradles our daughter to his chest.

"That's a natural response." Ryuzaki responds. "Though, I don't see how a tiny, wrinkled human could be considered a thing of beauty."

Light glances up from the baby's face to meet my eyes, and we nod in unison. Light stands, and hands her to Ryuzaki to hold. "Hold her. No, not like that." Light adjusts his arms, before backing away, and sitting next to me.

Ryuzaki is frozen, either in shock, or surprise. I'm too exhausted to tell. He just stares at the baby's face as she starts to wake up. Cooing, she reaches for the locks of hair that have fallen in front of his face. Enraptured, Ryuzaki only asks, "What are you going to name her?"

Light and I look at each other, and while he groans, I grin.

"Mirai, come on-"

"No, Light, we agreed! We made a deal!"

Ryuzaki looks between us, the look of confusion on his face hilarious.

I look back over at him, and smile gently. "We're going to name her Ella, after you. That is, if you're alright with it."

Ryuzaki blinks a few times, before smiling back at me. "I think… I would like that very much."

oOo

After having put Soichiro, our second child, down for his afternoon nap, I spent a good twenty minutes looking quietly around the house for Ella. I found her in the backyard, playing with her little traditional Japanese doll named Taeko. Before I could go to bring her back into the house, I saw her pick up Taeko, brush the doll's hair, and she began to sing quietly to it.

"Careful what you do, the gods are watching your every move. Walk with me down the dark path, with you by my side I'll not stumble back. Even if I'm locked away, and alone, I have no doubts that you'll find me there. You draw me close for a while, so still. You tell me everything. I'll ne'er forget what you say, I'll do anything to see you again. Yes, I want to see you again."

The haunting song brought back the eerie dream I'd had almost twelve years ago, and I froze.

She put down Taeko, and looked toward the Western horizon. "But what happens when it's been achieved, then what will we do after that? What then?"

As if breaking out of a reverie, Ella looks over towards me. "Mommy!" She grabs her doll, and runs over to me for a hug.

"Hello, sweetheart." I hug her back, trying not to let her feel my déjà vu. I lift her up in my arms, and bring her back inside. "Where'd you learn that song, Ella? The one you were singing outside?"

She smiles up innocently at me. "Taeko taught it to me! She said it was a song that you liked, so when you came outside, I thought I would sing it to you!"

I smiled, trying not to look worried for my child's mental health. "That's very sweet, honey. I loved it!"

As I put Ella to bed that night, I stared at her doll. Its lifeless glass eyes stared back at me, and I muttered quietly, "I don't know if you're a ghost, or a Shinigami companion like Kiyohime was to me. But please, just protect my daughter."

Luckily for my sanity, I didn't get a response.

But the remaining part of Kiyohime that remained separated from my mind laughed. _"Talking to a doll? Think it's haunted?"_

' _I've seen weirder stuff. Like your face.'_

" _Ha hah. Maybe she does have a Shinigami counterpart? That would be… interesting."_

 **Well guys, it's been a wild ride. Almost spanning a year, hundreds of followers and dozens of thousands of views. To think it started with an off-handed comment from my sister saying, "It's too bad there aren't really any good Death Note fanfics where Light gets the girl** _ **and**_ **retains his sanity."**

 **Yep. That's the origin.**

 **For the majority of the time I was writing this, I kept having to remind myself, "These two are serial killers- OHMIGOSH THEY KISSED ILY."**

 **Anyways.**

 **Sequel. The more important thing you people have been anticipating. As I've learned from Kira's Other Half, it isn't that much fun when I'm writing as I go along. It also isn't business efficient to update whenever the heck I feel like it. So. For the sequel, (name yet to be decided), I will try to write the entire thing, get a beta, and** _ **then**_ **post it weekly. Aiming for either August or September, but who knows? There's also something else I've been wanting to write for a long while, but I've never really gotten around to it. "The Hacker" for SAO. Coming out: never, probably. I'll be writing all summer, though, and (name yet to be decided) should be coming out at the start of the next school year!**

 **Summary:**

Ella has grown up believing in Kira. She has been shaped by the lessons her parents have taught her, and through her own intelligence, she has become both L and Kira's successor. The world is exactly as Kira had imagined it…

But it seems not all of L's previous successors are dead.

 **So. You like it? I need a name. Help me out here. Leave name ideas for the sequel in the comments. I'll take my favourite ones and poll them later.**

 **Thank you all for joining me on this roller coaster of me trying to be serious as I fail terribly, before giving up and changing the tags to humour.**

 **Thank you all for following the development of Kira's Other Half.**

 **I'll see you on the other side! Alkirian out! (Mic drop)**


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